Theater in the Now

In the latest episode of Block Talk, we chat with my friend and all-around incredible theater artist Philip Gates! Phil is currently directing The Tower by Adam Scott Mazer at HERE Arts Center. Phil and I talk about The Tower, the evolution of the project, sticking out in Indie theater, and his favorite spot in all of New York City!

Name: Matt Newberg

Hometown: Fair Lawn NJ

Education: Clark University BA English

Favorite Credits: Stirling University Comedy Festival (Writer/Director), Talk Radio (Stu Noonan), Much Ado About Nothing (Borachio)

Why theater?: I actually took a break from theater for a while and I came back to it for two main reasons. Firstly, I came to the realization that being serious about writing and being serious about theater were not mutually exclusive by any means. The other reason is, of course, all the great people you meet through theater.

Tell us about Disciples:Disciples is my first play and it went up for a six show run at Clark University in October of last year. The reception was more positive than I would have ever hoped, which is what led me to continue to pursue the idea of getting it produced again. The play is about examining faith and the labels we ascribe to it. The narrative centers around a young couple who, through an unforeseen set of circumstances, are forced to renegotiate their relationship with their faith/religion which leads them to also critically examine their own relationship with one another.

What inspired you to write Disciples?: The show is based off my experiences growing up in a non-denominational church. Though none of the events I write about are autobiographical, it all feels very real as if they could have happened to someone I knew. I found that there were a lot of questions and contradictions that kept coming up that no one affiliated with the church really wanted to address. Disciples builds a story around those questions and contradictions and presents them in a way that hopefully makes sense.

What kind of theater speaks to you? What or who inspires you as an artist?: I like non-conventional theater. Stuff that kind of messes with the general format of a "theater production." Unfortunately I don't get to see as much theater as I would like, but I'd like to give a shout out to Mickle Maher's There is a Happiness That Morning Is, which was an extremely entertaining one-act that toured from Chicago earlier this month.

If you could work with anyone you’ve yet to work with, who would it be?: I've yet to work with just about everyone! I don't know, I'd probably be too overwhelmed to work with anyone. I'm just gonna wish Shia LeBouf because he's fresh in my mind.

What show have you recommended to your friends?: The more I talk to people, the more I realize this is a cliche. And I wasn't even particularly fond of the revival that went up last year. But I have probably recommend more people to read This Is Our Youth than most other things.

Who would play you in a movie about yourself and what would it be called?: It's hard to say because my life hasn't ended yet and I don't really known which parts of my life would be suitable for film adaptation. It'd be cool to go the Don't Look Back route and get like eight different actors who look nothing like me to play me at different points in my life. But I'm not nearly that prolific.

If you could go back in time and see any play or musical you missed, what would it be?: The original This is Our Youth with Mark Ruffalo as Warren.

What’s your biggest guilty pleasure?: Anytime I've enjoyed myself at a musical production is a guilty pleasure.

If you weren’t working in theater, you would be _____?: A writer. I'm doing that anyway. In fact, I'm barely even working in theater at the moment. It'd probably be most accurate to ask "If you weren't working at a pizza place, you would be ___?"

What’s up next?: I have a novel in the works. And a one- act play. And some short fiction. Hopefully I finish at least one. Oh, and I have an album coming out as a songwriter next week too. But that's completely separate. The staged reading for Disciples is free and it's happening for one night on December 5th. Register online to reserve your seat at: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/disciples-staged-reading-tickets-19371793556. This event is likely to sell out as well.

We all love playing detective. Solving a mystery can be fulfilling. That's why television and film is filled with cop shows. In Lizzie Vieh's Barrier Islands, when a body is discovered in the sand, a string of seven more are uncovered leading to a hunt to find the murderer.
With two actors playing three characters each, Barrier Islands is a theatrical answer to "True Detective." Which season? That’s up to you. Played in an intricate nonlinear format, the lives of six key players are intertwined in a clue-unraveling mystery. What's enthralling about Vieh's play is the character study that is unveiled. With the drama surrounding the situation, Vieh is still capable of crafting characters that don't just serve the story. Each character is flawed or damaged, some more than others, and we watch their journey with the mystery as a backdrop. Where Barrier Islands struggled was the pacing. Like "True Detective", you want the audience to be able to take in and savor the moments but if it's all played at the same tempo, the more intimate beats will lose severity. And that happened, especially in the middle portion of the piece. Regardless, the play is a writing triumph. The story is captivated and keeps you interested in the result, though it's likely you'll have an inkling of who may have done it. We watch each male and female pair with one another, offering a unique perspective in storytelling. Truths and secrets can only be revealed through certain pairings so discovering the facts meant keeping a keen eye in the pairs. That is if you could keep all the characters straight.

Two actor plays may be perceived as easy but Barrier Islands is anything but. This is not an easy play. Director Zi Alikhan was thrown challenge after challenge. For the most part, Alikhan found solutions. The playing space at The Wild Project is normally a decent size but with Andrew Diaz's multi-location set, isolation was hard. That meant lighting designer Jessica Creager was an integral member of the team. A great deal of attention was paid when it came to lighting Barrier Islands. This design was important to storytelling. The tightness of the staging led to interesting stage pictures with cool lighting looks but nothing is sadder than shadows falling across faces and actors walking out of light. With the circumstances what they were, Creager did a fine job. With the duo switching characters from scene to scene, Alikhan needed to establish a transition vocabulary. Chalk it up to preference but highlighting costume changes feels voyeuristic. Perhaps a more stylized change would alleviate the awkwardness.
Aleisha Force and Russell Jonas established an immense amount of trust that helped to elevate the production. Had they not had a good stage relationship it might have been best to burry the play in the sand. Chemistry aside, Force and Jonas needed to create distinct characters that were different and easily recognizable. Jonas seemed to capitalize on this a bit better. Force’s trio were quite similar, with the exception of imperfect cop, her greatest deviation. Force crafted three strong, grounded women, adopting physicality as a key player in her three. Jonas, on the other hand, played more into character. While Force went for vocal gruffness, Jonas played with pitch a bit more. Jonas’ characters felt theatrical, but in this type of storytelling, it was necessary.
Barrier Islands is an incredible feat to produce. There’s nothing easy about it. Vieh’s script was strong with Alikhan’s execution almost there. In the next iteration, which is bound to happen, perhaps a little bit of reimagining will help.

In a time where rape culture sadly seems more present than ever comes a new production of Robert Aguirre-Sacasa's timely Good Boys and True. Presented by Retro Productions, the play tells the story of a boys' prep school where a sex tape circulates that features one of their own.
Directed by DeLisa M. White, Good Boys and True follows Brandon Hardy, a child of good wealth and fortune, and his mother Elizabeth who battle accusations and truths when a sex tape surfaces revealing a teen, resembling Brandon, raping a girl. Set in 1988, this story still rings true. The references and methods of circulation may be dated, yet the discussion is anything but. The text by rising scribe Aguirre-Sacasa is one of his finest. But this production is sadly missing that spark. And it's easy to pinpoint why. The vision from White includes much stillness causing a slow moving story to be presented. And that can be blamed on the scenic design. Designed by Jack and Rebecca Cunningham, White had little to work with. With the confines of locale, there's no wiggle room for the actors, forcing the staging to be quite stationary. The three tiered set allowed the shifts to be sharply motivated by actor and lights but with about three feet to work with, you could see the cast look stuck. To White's credit, her staging included a very consistent vocabulary. Even when the scene was on the stage floor, White kept the action tight. The other issue with the scenic design was the placement of the structure. The tiered playing space is so far from the first row of audience, let alone the rest of the bleachers, that there is an automatic disconnect. Perhaps the placement could be due to where the lights had to be hung but that shouldn't compromise the audience experience. With the Cunninghams creating a sharp angle with their set, the ratio of positive to negative space was a bit drastic, especially since the majority of the action took place on that structure. There’s no denying the creativity that went into Jack and Rebecca’s design. It looked stunning. But it was one of those circumstances that a scenic design altered an entire production.

Photo by Kyle Connolly

The company that comprised Good Boys and True were quite mixed. And it just so happened two of the supporting actors were the strongest of the bunch. Stephan Amenta as Justin and Moira Stone as Aunt Maddy gave admirable performances. Amenta gave Justin profundity and charm. As the outcast of the school, you could see why Brandon was magnetized by him. But beyond that, Amenta didn’t play into any stereotypes. He made Justin authentic. Stone as Maddy offered a lightness to the stark darkness of Heather E. Cunningham’s Elizabeth. Stone was bubbly in her attempts to ease the tension. Her contrast was much needed. Heather E. Cunningham as Elizabeth looked uncomfortable onstage. Between her Girl Scout tan dress designed by Kathryn Squitieri to the drama her character endured, Cunningham lacked the driving force to propel this play. Cunningham played Elizabeth like an afternoon special from the 80s. Her delivery was filled with melodrama, which garnered laughs during all the wrong moments. As Brandon, Ryan Pater exudes confidence as the spoiled privileged boy but his arrogance forces the audience to turn on him right from the start. Additionally, he plays Brandon a tad more mature than he may be.
For a play that dives deep into the richness of character, Good Boys and True seemed to spoil the mystery that Roberto Aguirre-Sacasa’s script naturally contains. It’s likely you picked a conclusion mere moments into the play. This is an important story but Retro Productions didn’t seem to do justice for it. Perhaps with a little reimagining of the set, Good Boys and True could have succeeded.

There's something about the written word that has been lost. In the age of technology, letter writing has fallen in decline. The magic of the written word is in full bloom in the new fairy tale Patronage by Kati Frazier presented by Random Access Theatre and Not Without Rage.
Patronage is the tale of a Suitor, in class disguise, who attempts to win the heart of the Countess who can only be wooed by poem. When the Suitor is poemless, he arrives at the home of Thomasine who he begs to write him a poem. Through greed, intrigue, and a little bit of love, Patronage showcases a fresh spin on the fairy tale genre. From the story structure, to the scenic elements, to the colorful costumes, it's best to describe Patronage as a patchwork. The pieces are all present but they may not all fit perfectly together. Director Corinne Woods kept the tempo brisk, which, in this case, was not for the best. Woods encountered some difficulty in storytelling clarity. With high-speed action and primarily having monologues serve as integral exposition, it is likely key plot points may have been lost. Frazier's play is not based on a famous fairy tale. And that's a welcome change. But Frazier and Woods seemed to forget that this would be the audiences first time hearing this tale and will likely need time to digest the foreign material. What Frazier did offer though was a story that resonates. It's a story of pursing the one you want and never giving up even when the odds are stacked against you. The characters Frazier creates resemble other fairy tale favorites with similar wishes. That being said, they happen to be very one-dimensional. It works for a basic fairy tale but not when trying to reinvent the genre.

photo by Mike Gregorek

In playing with the patchwork idea, the three actors seemed to offer three different acting styles. Individually they worked but battled when together. Which was the best option? That's up for debate. As an ensemble, the cast of Patronage did not blend. Individually, there were some solid performances. The Suitor was a bit dim allowing for a wonderfully over-the-top campy performance from Jamie Boswell. If you're ever looking for a cartoon fairy tale leading man, look no further than Jamie Boswell. He has the charm and willingness to throw himself around. There was flamboyance to his characterization but it worked here. On the contrast, Ivanna Cullman as Thomasine was much more reserved and grounded. For Cullman, it worked. As The Countess, Calaine Schaffer may not have screamed regality but she exuded superiority. Though the way she treated The Suitor, you have to wonder if all the money was worth the love of this small-hearted person.
Director Corinne Woods kept the play quite intimate, utilizing the nooks and crannies of Rabbithole. The very unique rustic space was divided into two different worlds. The open space gave Thomasine and The Countess their own playing space that The Suitor bounced around in. The period-inspired furniture from Cale Jordan was a mix and match that was distinct for each. When it came to the costumes by Anna Grace Carter, the style was right but the bright colors were hard on the eyes. One of the most comical of costume pieces was the Suitor's yellow coat. The best way to describe it was a knock off of Freddie Mercury's 1986 Wembley jacket. It certainly was a statement piece. To Jamie Boswell's credit, he pulled it off. The soundscape by Chris Chappell was interesting. The sound that accompanied the writing seemed to feature a clicking resembling a typewriter, which was a bit jarring. Despite that, the effect was a tremendous addition.
Patronage has its highs and lows. The moral of the story is present but the journey getting there wasn't as polished as one would hope.

Growing up as a 90’s kid, playing the computer game “The Oregon Trail” was literally all fun and games. We didn't quite comprehend the stakes and reality when one of your party would die. You kept on wagoning along. But the reality of the journey West that the game was based on had its horrors. Just ask the Donner Party. In AntiMatter's sensational The Tower, the audience is trust into an immersive experience where the ghosts of the past haunt Donner Lake as their horror story is told in a visceral way.

For those needing a bit of backstory, The Donner Party was a group of American pioneers who set out West for California in wagon train. After a series of mishaps, the party was snowbound in the Sierra Nevada. And for some, the only way to survive was to resort to cannibalism. This spectacularly horrific tragedy was the premise for Adam Scott Mazer’s The Tower. Staged and transformed at HERE Arts Center, The Tower is an immersive extravaganza where you and your friends will enter present-day Donner Lake, home of the horrific acts, as the past is thrust into the present. You get to witness some of the Donner Party’s greatest players including James and Margret Reed, Tamzene Donner, and Lewis Keseberg as they chose to embark on a relief effort or stay back at camp where their demise was imminent. The way the night is set up is you are encouraged to explore the snow-dusted campgrounds of Donner Lake as The Guide sets up the history of the events. Throughout the tour, you can move around, if you so please, to get a better glimpse of the real-live action taking place. But be warned, if there is an actor bulleting in your path, it’s best to get out of their way. These people are out for blood. With dozens of characters unable to make it into the theatrical retelling, Mazer gives you the hits of the Donner Party while blending a psychedelic allure of insanity into the mix. You watch as the migrants settle into despair and lose themselves and their trust of sanity. What Mazer, director Philip Gates, and their incredible design team do is allow you to choose your experience. With various playing “stages” set up for the scenes, you decide how close to the action you want to be. Journey plays tend to be a hard to sell on stage. But in this atmosphere, the journey is happening all around you. It’s almost a full five senses experience. In the next iteration, because this show will most certainly have more lives, it would be even more exciting to get more of a smell and taste to enhance the experience. Just imagine what it could be like to smell the pine of Donner Lake and taste a little bit of beef jerky as the Donner Party chews one of their own. Regardless of what could be, what is present it worth every penny. With only two hours to play and so much time to span, Mazer has no time for character development. Yet it didn’t seem to matter in this environment. It’s best to know some history before going in.
Even knowing little about the people, it was the fight and determination that kept those characters and this piece flowing as it was perpetually snowing. And the ensemble did a tremendous job with their treacherous journey. It was truly an ensemble effort. To guide the audience through Donner Lake, Joe Petersen as The Guide brought the typical tour guide scripted cadence. When things took a twist and his guide persona was ripped away, Petersen had true grit. As the adventurous travelers who went forth for help, Karsten Otto as William Eddy, Leah Walsh as Margret Reed, Marlowe Holden as Sarah Foster, Craig Mungavin as Charles Stanton, and Rebecca Hirota as Luisa were forced into a circumstance requiring them to physically freeze in the elements. With the audience potentially in their face, each actor needed to go above and beyond to make the theater feel like a frozen tundra. And they did just that. They used every inch of their body, offering a teeth-chattering vocal. You could see the amount of physical exhaustion they exuded. Individually, it was Leah Walsh ‘s Margret that shattered hearts. While she may not have been as sugary, Marlowe Holden’s Sarah was a warrior. As the tent and cabin bound stragglers, Elizabeth Bays as Virginia Reed, Curry Whitmire as Landrum Murphy, and Courtney Fenwick as Tamzene Donner were able to capture the more comical moments of Mazer’s text. Bays and Whitmire as the meet-cute home alone kids had a special bond. When the fantastical moments are brought into the play, it’s Fenwick who delivers the fear. Between the contacts and the meat market scene, Fenwick may haunt your dreams. Leave it to the true outcast of the tale to be one of the most intriguing characters. Rudi Utter’s Lewis Keseberg, the last remaining Donner Party member and self-proclaimed King of the Meat was filled with fervor. His character’s journey may be one of the strongest in the text which allowed Utter to elevate him to a brilliant force.

It takes a revolutionary vision to make The Tower come to life. Director Philip Gates had just that. Gates and his concrete design team reimagined how to transform a common theater space. Scenic designer Peiyi Wong’s unparalleled design transported the audience through time and space. With virtually four “stages” for Gates to play in, Wong paid attention to detail, providing intricate detail without overstuffing the space. The subtleties, between the wood features to the forests-scape on all surfaces, Wong transformed HERE Arts Center into something you wish would never change. The lighting design by Alana Jacoby was precise and sharp bouncing from scene to scene but when the travelers were in the wilderness, the cold light was perfectly terrifying. The costumes from Summer Lee Jack fit the period well. Even though they were layered, you could see the thin fabrics lead to their demise. The hero of the design team was Sam Kusnetz. Kusnetz played double duty as sound and projection designer. He was the defining factor in bringing the audience to Donner Lake. In a time where sound design isn’t getting the recognition it deserves from a certain award show. The soundscape Kusnetz gives The Tower is essential into allowing you feel present. The wind alone was splendid. When it comes to Kusnetz’s projection design, it was something noteworthy. From the movement of the clouds to the incidental films, Kusnetz filled the room in every way possible. With such brilliant collaborators to work with, Gates seemed to have every wish he ever desired at his disposal. His staging was deliberate and offered an easy flow for the show. When he did go for the element of surprise, depending on where you were in the space, you might have had a moment of fear in your eyes.
Though the end was horrific for the Donners, the future is bright for The Tower. There’s something about the intimate yet vast space that made this experience worthwhile. Keep an eye out for the next iteration of The Tower. And hope you get the five senses version. Cannibalism has never been so exciting.

It's true. Change don't come easy. But it can. You just have to open your eyes. Taking the immersive experience to the next level, The Flea presents Take Care, an audience participatory event that blends topical themes into a mind-shattering night of truths.
Created by Todd Shalom and Niegel Smith and directed by Smith, Take Care is not your ordinary Flea production. Staged in the downstairs space, Take Care is highly experimental and highly rewarding. This is not a “choose your own adventure” experience, rather a piece where you can pick your level of participation. By simply deciding whether you'd like to be an active player or a voyeur, your experience will be dictated by your level of participation. Those wishing to participate will receive a card with instructions on when and how they will partake in the piece. And it's all based on a timer, a captivating yet subtle metaphor. Throughout the hour-long production, you will be led through a series of vignettes propelled by actor and audience alike. And by the end, you will inevitably have feelings. Sitting in a room virtually made up of strangers, you're in an extremely warm, safe, and welcoming place to emote. And there will be lots of emoting. Take Care is an experimental immersive event about climate change and race that is carefully crafted. This is a play for the fearless. This is not your typical theater piece. Those who seek refuge in the fourth wall should likely avoid Take Care. But for those eager to take a risk, and give those theatrical plants a night off, this is a play for you. It’s quite hard to discuss what precisely happens in this show. Yes, there is a set script that guides the evening, but depending on the makeup of the audience, your experience will likely change. There are key beats that are consistent, for example a threatening superstorm where you will want a poncho to avoid water, but it’s when the audience is literally given the microphone that the mood will swing. The “script” is filled with improvisational moments for the participants and what they may share could affect everything, even the timing of the night. But what’s amazing is how deep and honest people can get. You can feel the vulnerability within that stranger sitting across from you. Between sharing what you wish was in your emergency kit to the simple filling in the blank to the statement “I am…”, what the person says right before you could sway the continuing circle of revealing.

photo by Bjorn Bollinder

This will be one of those rare occurrences where the audience played a bigger "part" collectively than the actors. That being said, the Take Care company served as extraordinary guides and Caretakers. Tommy Bernardi, Maki Borden, Rachel Lin, Ashton Muniz, Derek Christopher Murphy, Rebeca Rad, Brittane Rowe, Isabella Sazak, Ryan Stinnett, and Catherine Woodard took on these unique and weird roles to form a unique ensemble. A special recognition should be paid to Brittane Rowe for her stunning rendition of Bridget Mendler's "Hurricane" with great accompaniment by Tommy Bernardi on piano and of course the Hurricangels. It was a welcome and inspirational musical break. There is something about The Bats and random musical numbers that reverberates.
Director Niegel Smith clearly had a vision as to how this event was going to be tailored. Just by peering at the “script”, you could imagine that it was like assembling a giant puzzle. Smith had a willing group of actors ready and able to pick up any moment of dead air but Smith’s trust in the one inconsistent factor, the audience, proved his confidence in his theatrical social experiment. As stated before, every performance will be a different experience and yet Smith and his team have a blueprint to keep things on the right track. Because of this unique experience, the design of Take Care is interesting. There is little uniformity that meets the eye at first glance yet everything seems to be cohesive. The actors seemed to be wearing clothing that were pulled out of their closet. There is an assortment of props isolated to several parts of the stage. But when the timer begins, there is a clear cut flow to the show. The lights and sound by Amith Chandrashaker and Miles Polaski are sharp and unified. The video design, also by Chandrashaker, is filled with images and videos that are evocative.
There are so many moving parts to Take Care that it is incredibly likely that you will miss a lot. And that may be a bad thing. But what you do take in, it’s something unique. When all is said and done, it's ok to be overwhelmed. Chances are you're not alone. And a warning to all those brave enough to fight this storm, take that poncho. Especially if you’re wearing something you like. There’s water everywhere and you’re going to get wet.

In the latest blog hijack, Kerry Ipema tells you about Lady Bits, a one-night only fundraiser for Planned Parenthood at The Pit!

LADY BITS playing Tuesday, December 15 at 7:00 at The PIT. Every ticket bought is a donation to Planned Parenthood.

Here's a blurb about the show!

New York's finest ladies talking about Lady Bits. A response to the many attempts to defund Planned Parenthood and the stigma of talking about reproductive health. Come hear stories, songs, stand up, and music all about some of our favorite body parts! All profits will go directly to Planned Parenthood.

Get your tickets!

Featuring:
KK Apple
Jen Clark
Julissa Contreras
Kerry Ipema
Catya McMullen
Caitlin Peluffo
Cristina Pitter
Charly Evon Simpson

with Tech God Parker Denton!

And Graphic Design by Ellie Philips!

For more information, visit https://www.facebook.com/events/1723152607917190/

The holidays are here and so is the latest edition of Rule of 7x7! Hosted by The Tank, Rule of 7x7: Holiday Edition will be staged at Standard ToyKraft (722 Metropolitan Ave, BK) on December 18th and December 19th at 8:00pm. And tickets are available at Brown Paper Tickets.

The Rulers

Name: A.J. Ditty

Hometown: Escondido, CA, the former home of famous steak eatery "Tony's Spunky Steer" which was a restaurant that was real and existed.

Education: NYU

What is your rule?: On page 3-- a bizarre sound cue, followed by silence.

Why did you pick your rule?: It is one day my dream to write a play that consists entirely of bizarre sound cues followed by silence.

Tell us about Rudy: A Christmas Play: It's a play about reindeer, games, and reindeer games. Also, demon babies.

What can we expect to see at Rule of 7x7?: Some really kickass talented playwrights/actors/directors all banding together to deliver one hell
of a holiday spectacular.

Why should we check out Rule of 7x7?: Because it's an amazing night filled with magic, PBR, and magic PBR.

What is on your holiday wish list?: This is the first Christmas of my entire life where all I really want are socks. Just like, warm, colorful socks. Please, somebody get me some socks.

For more on AJ, visit www.ajditty.com

Name: Andy Gershenzon

Hometown: Glenview, Illinois

Education: University of Illinois

What is your rule?: Someone makes a string of incomprehensible noises with their mouth.

Why did you pick your rule?: No idea. I gave it no thought whatsoever.

Tell us about Act Three: Two gangsters waiting for a guy they've been assigned to kill. It's funny and suspenseful. And extremely well acted.

What can we expect to see at Rule of 7x7?: Seven one act plays. One of them is about two gangsters waiting for a guy they've been assigned to kill. It's funny and suspenseful. And the actors are absolutely brilliant. And sexy.

Why should we check out Rule of 7x7?: There will be at least two brilliant, sexy actors there.

What is on your holiday wish list?: I have everything I ever wanted.

For more on Andy, visit www.BrooklynWizard.com

Name: Jack Horton Gilbert

Hometown: Columbus, Ohio

Education: BFA Theatre Performance Ohio University '10

What is your rule?: Each play ends with really bad advice being imparted.

Why did you pick your rule?:'Cause I've seen enough feel good holiday pieces that end with some great moral. Plus I wanted to see how deranged everyone could be.

Tell us about High Holidays: Classic tale of girl brings home boy to meet the father. Father's on an impressive amount of LSD and amphetamines. Boy and father try and keep it from the girl.

What can we expect to see at Rule of 7x7?: Unbridled holiday cheer.

Why should we check out Rule of 7x7?: It's hilarious, heart-felt, cheap, and YOU GET A FREE BEER.

What is on your holiday wish list?: Brett Epstein's return to NYC.

Name: Jenny Morris

Hometown: Largo, FL

Education: FSU

What is your rule?:"You know what they say:_____."

Why did you pick your rule?: The options for what "they" say are endless!

Tell us about All I Want For Christmas Is Love Actually: Sisters in Florida at Christmas. It's a perfect show for those who love the movie Love Actually, those who hate the movie, and those who have never seen it.

What can we expect to see at Rule of 7x7?: Funny, weird, innovative, wonderful ten minute plays with crazy talented actors and directors. And since mistletoe is a rule-- hopefully some good kissin'!

Why should we check out Rule of 7x7?: It's a fun theatrical holiday party with free beer and lots of laughs!

What is on your holiday wish list?:Hamilton tickets and world peace, both pretty doable.

Name: Donaldo Prescod

Hometown: Boston, MA

Education: MFA in Acting from The New School for Drama, BA in Cinema from SFSU.

What is your rule?: Mistletoe.

Why did you pick your rule?: It's festive and green.

Tell us about Animal Planet Presents: Life At The Watering Hole: It's an observational play on human behavior.

What can we expect to see at Rule of 7x7?: A night filled with joy.

Why should we check out Rule of 7x7?: When writers are given a challenge, it's fun to see what they come up with creatively. And it never disappoints.

What is on your holiday wish list?: Ugly Christmas sweater, or that Dr. Dreidel.

For more on Donaldo, visit www.donaldoprescod.com

Name: Erika Sheffer

Hometown: Brooklyn, NY

Education: Syracuse University B.F.A

What is your rule?: A bathing suit.

Why did you pick your rule?: A bathing suit seems like an article of clothing that has the potential for conflict. Internal or otherwise. Also, it’s the first thing that popped into my head.

Tell us about Will They/Won't They: Will They/Won’t They is a story about a couple having what turns out to be a highly unusual first date. They end up questioning their views on love, relationships, marriage, and hope. But also, there are dick jokes.

What can we expect to see at Rule of 7x7?: At Rule of 7 x 7, you can expect to see inappropriate Christmas ornaments, hot guy on girl on elf action (Made that up. Have no idea if you will actually see that). The promise of peace on earth, of love between all men and finally, you will see joy brought to the masses through the language of THEATRE.

Why should we check out Rule of 7x7?: You should check out Rule of 7 x 7, because it will keep you from spending the night huddled in a dark corner of your apartment, eating ‘nilla wafers, watching old episodes of NYPD Blue.

What is on your holiday wish list?: I want someone to come to my apartment and throw away a third of my belongings.

Name: Kristin Slaney

Hometown: Halifax, Nova Scotia

Education: I'm in the third year of my MFA in playwriting at Columbia.

What is your rule?: There is a gaudy Christmas decoration somewhere onstage.

Why did you pick your rule?: Perhaps because there is no shortage of gaudy Christmas decorations everywhere these days?

Tell us about Christmastime Penance: It's about Christmas and break-ups and a world wherein Hugh Grant is being punished for his misdeeds.

What can we expect to see at Rule of 7x7?: Holiday short plays! A bunch of them. Probably funny ones.

Why should we check out Rule of 7x7?: These events are a great way of getting a taste of people's writing voices, I think.

What is on your holiday wish list?: I mostly just want to hang out with my best friend and her tiny baby son. And to be done marking undergraduate composition papers.

Dionysus was the God of wine and theater and a few other things. He was revered by some and feared for his revenge by others. He played an important role in Greek mythology and culture and was even the centerpiece of a Euripides play entitled The Bacchae. As one of the leading plays of the Greek canon, The Bacchae finds itself back on stage in Queens Shakespeare and What Dreams May Co production. Only this time, it’s accompanied with a new prequel companion piece called Sisters of Semele.
Together, Sisters of Semele and The Bacchae chronicle the familiar drama between feuding cousins Dionysus and Pentheus and their mothers Agave and Semele, respectively. In Sisters of Semele, we watch as jealous mortal sisters Agave and Ino deal with their mortal sister Semele who has been impregnated by Zeus. The prequel, written by Chris Rivera, is a play about jealousy and deceit. It sets the scene and helps clarify any character confusion and backstory you may have in The Bacchae, but it’s not entirely necessary for the flow of the evening. By the time The Bacchae arrives, the action shifts a few decades where the battle of morals is flowing as Dionysus seeks vengeance on his cousin, the King of Thebes. Translated by Paul Roche, The Bacchae is a raucous party with a Greek twist of doom and gloom.

photo by Joseph Sebring

Rivera’s script fills about half of the first act. Director Christina Sheehan allows the heightened text to take on a modern approach. It’s welcomed but doesn’t pair perfectly with the rest of the night. That being said, the story Rivera and Sheehan share has shades of a soap opera. And that might all be due to the themes present in the story. With the wide-eyed Agave offering consistent side eye, it’s possible Rivera’s text was originally intended for “The Real Housewives of Ancient Greece”, something that would actually be worth seeing. But in this context, Sheehan’s style didn’t resonate with the companion piece. That being said, the modern vision Sheehan did offer came charging through in The Bacchae. There are sexual undertones in the original story but Sheehan and her company seemed to over-sexualize it. Playing it as a classic Greek drama with giant phalluses is one thing, but without them, it doesn’t land. Regardless of how sexy Dionysus and The Bacchants got, Sheehan seemed completely overwhelmed by the sheer amount of bodies she had to handle. Sheehan had little control or structure with her chorus. Plays of this nature have an element where the characters do speak out and address the audience but Sheehan shattered the fourth wall by allowing her company to meander through the risers during some of the storytelling bits. It was one of the many moments of distraction. During many of the exposition-filled sections, Sheehan had her Bacchants act out the tales, not always mirroring the text. With stationary dialogue and active movement fighting against one another, focus was pulled away from the meat of the story. What’s hard about Greek texts is how to establish the Greek chorus. Are they a singular unit? Do they have their own personalities? Sheehan blended the two causing a plethora of actors on stage unaware of what exactly to do.
You almost have to wonder if the company had gone rogue once rehearsals had finished. There were some stand out performances, including the Marshall Taylor Thomas as the strong and solid Zeus in Sisters of Semele and the captivating Rhiannon Lattimer as Agave, who steals the show with her late Act II monologue. Even Jonathan Emerson as the rock star Dionysus had his moments of magnitude. But then comes Pentheus. Chris Rivera’s Pentheus was like a cartoon Bond villain. He thinks he has all the power but hides behind the muscle of his militia. It was an interesting character choice. And it played into the juxtaposition once he is brainwashed by Dionysus. That being said, when he did don the women’s clothing, Pentheus had no vulnerability, something that felt unnatural for the story arc. It was interesting to see him feel comfort in the clothing, but it was a bold thesis that had not been justified anywhere else in the production. Additionally, Rivera lacked complete connection with his scene partners, living in his own little bubble, and relied heavily on big expressions. The Bacchant Chorus lived in their own individual worlds as well, often appearing as the main source of going rogue. Without a set vocabulary from Sheehan, the ensemble just did their own thing which, at times, was drastically different from their neighbor.
To pinpoint the woes from a production perspective would call out the lack of cleanliness between the lights and sound. But these moments were minimal in comparison to the piece as a whole. There was certainly ambition present in this production but the execution was sadly off kilter.

Once upon a time in a decade called the 90s, there was a television station called the WB. This channel was filled with an assortment of morally conscience teenage dramas including "Seventh Heaven" and "Dawson's Creek”. And apparently Bert V. Royal's Dog Sees God. In Queens Shakespeare and What Dreams May Co.'s radically interpreted production of the Bert V. Royal play, the Peanut-inspired gang journey through a tonally confused dramedy about teen problems that manages to minimize the heart of the text.

photo by Joseph Sebring

Co-directed by Chris Rivera and Bloo Rodriguez, Dog Sees God: Confessions of a Teenage Blockhead gets the 90s treatment as CB and his friends deal with bullying, homophobia, drugs, sex, and all-around drama. The script by Bert V. Royal is celebrated. His characters are rich. The story is accessible. But this production seemed to stray, attempting to reinvent something that didn't need reinventing. Despite premiering in 2004, Royal's story is timeless. Yet Rivera and Rodriguez decided to give it a time. A decade in fact. It's a bold decision that didn't quite have justification in doing so. There's a natural nostalgia factor with the Peanuts element of the script. And sure, there's nostalgia with the decade between the clothing and the soundtrack that accompanied. But they seemed to severely get in the way of the vision. It became tonally a mess. It's one thing to bring your own interpretation to a text but in modern theater, when it strays from the integrity of the text, the production is called into question. There are comic moments that Royal drops into his story. But they are earned and necessary with the darker themes. But the 90s TV concept added a campy factor that directly hurt the playing of some of the important scenes. The tone post suicide destroyed the emotional arc of Dog Sees God. Rivera and Rodriguez seemed to make a joke of it, something that is disappointing. By having one of the characters comically burst out into fits of hysterical crying, it pulled all focus away from Royal’s therapy session where the characters reflect on the situation. And this was quite common in the playing of the story. And it all began with a 90s inspired TV credit video sequence at the top of the show. It set the tone of the vision, but it did not provide a happy marriage. The staging of the show was fairly simple, using little scenic elements. But the transitions bringing them on and off were inexplicable. Using a 90s soundtrack as the transition music, the actors comically danced their way to the beat of the song. The trouble with using songs that are so iconic, including Paula Cole’s “I Don’t Want to Wait”, which happens to be the theme song for “Dawson’s Creek”, is they evoke laughter from the audience. And after leaving scenes that are emotionally grounded, the comical dancing and funny song accompaniment, it causes the tone to be lost. To put it bluntly, the songs killed the vibe. Toward the end of the show, the transitions seemed to lack the dancing, causing the transition vocabulary to be inconsistent. It was almost as if Rivera and Rodriguez ran out of time to choreograph.
The acting company went over-the-top for unnecessary laughs. You can’t fault them if they were asked to tap into an acting style that may not have best served them and the story best. As CB, Matthew Pohlman played into stereotypes of an adult trying to play a teen. Pohlman seemed to struggle finding truth in his performance. When CB was tender, Pohlman was natural. But when CB had sudden emotional outbursts, it sadly just came across as bad 90s acting. Falling into the same trap of over-emoting, Jonathan Emerson as Beethoven was gloomily emo. Between his body language to the delivery of his text, Emerson faltered as the emotionally vital character. Kate McMorran as CB’s Sister was the perfect annoying little sister, but part of the arc of the character is her ever-changing identity. Unfortunately, McMorran was stuck in the same rut. There were, however, some saving graces in the company. And they were Van and Tricia. Played by Colin Hinckley and Bryna Kearney. Hinckley and Kearney were able to create characters that still had the elements the directors were seeking yet manage to have truth within. Hinckley had the stoner aspect of Van to fall back when he was goofy, but his sobering moments were tender. Kearney’s Tricia was a grunge princess that you probably avoided in the halls, but you witnessed the pain inside.
Dog Sees God: Confessions of a Teenage Blockhead is a script that has been making its way through theaters so creating a production that sticks out above the rest can be hard. To Rivera, Rodriguez, and the company’s credit, they boldly went for a concept and, for the most part, stuck with it. But that doesn’t mean it was remotely successful.

2015 is about to wrap up so it's time to celebrate the year in theater! Here are the Favorite shows of 2015 as suggested by you, the fans, and the Class of 2015 "Spotlight On" Interviewees!

10 Out of 12 (Soho Rep)
Fun Home (Broadway)
Gloria (Vineyard Theatre Company)
Hamilton (The Public/Broadway)
Hand to God (Broadway)
John (Signature Theatre Company)
On the Town (Broadway)

Something Rotten (Broadway)
Spring Awakening (Broadway)
The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time (Broadway)
The Humans (Roundabout Theatre Company)
The King and I (Lincoln Center- Broadway)
The Qualms (Playwrights Horizons)
Whorl Inside a Loop (2econd Stage)

2015 was the year that theater went for it. Between the hip-hop mega-hit Hamilton to Fun Home, a daring musical based on a graphic novel, risks were taken and for many, they paid off. With many shows having an Off Broadway life and transferring to the Great White Way, there were still some big hits Off Broadway and the Indie world. Here's my list of favorites in 2015!

1. Spring Awakening
Deaf West revived the Duncan Sheik-Steven Sater musical in near perfect fashion. With a fresh-faced cast taking the helm, this production of Spring Awakening highlighted the words of the musical by blending voice and ASL seamlessly. Who knew that a revival could top the original production. Spring Awakening may have been lost in the landscape of Hamilton and Fun Home but it deserves to be recognized for how all-around strong it is.

2. Songs for the Fallen
NYMF 2015 was filled with some potential future hits and some big duds. But there was one show in particular that defined the future of musical theater. That show was Songs for the Fallen. Written by Basil Hogios and Sheridan Harbridge, the musical is a bawdy, baroque, cabaret biography about Marie Duplessis. With Harbridge as Duplesses, Songs for the Fallen may be her star vehicle. Bringing a modern, electronic vibe and marrying it with a classical touch, Songs for the Fallen could very well be the female diva's Hedwig and the Angry Inch. Keep your eyes peeled for the future of this one.

3. Significant Other
Sometimes theater hits home. And that was certainly the case with Josh Harmon's Significant Other. A play about a twentysomethings tireless search to find love in a sea of in-love friends, Significant Other will make you feel as if Harmon ripped your life from you and presented it onstage. The Off Broadway hit was rightly extended and will likely have a long regional life, but the significance of this production was the stellar leading performance from Gideon Glick.

4. The Tower
Immersive theater is here to stay. And The Tower is defining why. Presented by AntiMatter Productions at HERE Arts Center, this sensory adventure with the Donner Party is everything immersive experience should be. Director Philip Gates and his extraordinary team transformed the space into a hauntingly magical Donner Lake where the past and present collide. Young artists who want to tackle the immersive world will need to strive to reach the glory of this production.

5. Kapow-i GoGo
After debuting as part of The Flea's #serials series, the Kapow-i gang took their show on the road and brought it to comedy and improv mecca The PIT for an extended run. Broken into three parts and nine episodes, this laugh-from-the-gut comedy offers a unique spin to anime, video games, and the who geek nation. Created by mad genius Matt Cox, Kapow-i GoGo proves that when you're making theater with your friends, a lot of heart goes a long way.

We had a huge year at Theater in the Now! And expanding our coverage at NYMF and Fringe sure did help! There were so many big articles posted but here are the 10 most viewed stories of 2015!

1. Spotlight On...Jennifer Bareilles

2. Spotlight On...Kevin Zak

3. The 2nd Annual Mikey Awards

4. Review: A Country-Fried Smash

5. Spotlight On...Harrison Chad

6. Theater in the Now's Best of 2015

7. Review: The Power of Provocative Theater

8. Review: A Heroic Saga

9. Review: A Spot to Remember

10. Review: Adult Swim the Musical

There it is! The Top 10 Posts of 2015! Thank you for being so loyal to Theater in the Now. Big things are coming in 2016!

Names: Zach Zucker & Viggo Venn

Hometown:
ZZ: New York, New York
VV: Oslo, Norway

Education:
ZZ & VV: Ecole Phlippe Gaulier in Étampes, France

Favorite Credits:
ZZ: Edinburgh Fringe Festival, Neil Hamburger Live in LA, Crash Test with Paul Scheer and Rob Huebel at The UCB Theatre, Top Story! Weekly at iO West and the Adelaide Fringe Festival in Australia..
VV: Edinburgh Fringe, Copenhagen Improv Festival, Amsterdam Improv Festival, Playroom Festival, The Scenic Art Festival, performing with my comedy group ‘Lausungene’ and being the Norwegian Champion of Theatre Sports

Why theatre?:
ZZ: Because theatre allows us to escape from all of the heaviness in our world and relish in the lightness of fun and fantasy. It’s also one of the last remaining experiences where human beings can directly connect and communicate with other human beings.
VV: The more technology infiltrates our culture the less opportunities we have to truly be with one another. We’re all a part of something bigger than ourselves and theatre allows us to tap into whatever that is.

Tell us about Zach & Viggo: Thunderflop:
ZZ:Zach & Viggo: Thunderflop is a comedy show where two human adults get to unleash their most innocent, ridiculous sides that society tells us to push down. We’re under so much pressure to be good all of the time and that sucks.
VV: Exactly. Our show is all about having fun being bad and owning it. We constantly worry about how we look or how we’re perceived. But the truth is nobody knows why we’re here and we’re all idiots. So let’s all be idiots!

What inspired you to create Zach & Viggo: Thunderflop?:
VV: I came to Edinburgh for the first time three years ago and saw Dr. Brown’s award-winning show Befrdfgth. It totally blew my mind. I remember thinking ‘Wow…Clown. It’s so sensitive. It shows humanity—it’s so much more than just being funny.’
ZZ: Ahh man, his show is absolutely beautiful! Dr. Brown’s show Because was the first clown show that I ever saw and it was revolutionary. I couldn’t stop thinking about how much I loved it. It was so different than anything else I’d ever seen.
VV: Seeing that show changed my life. I ended up studying with Dr. Brown and eventually meeting Zach at Ecole Philippe Gaulier. We became best friends right away so it was an easy decision to make a show together.
ZZ: Philippe Gaulier was the catalyst that ignited our artistic fire.

What kind of theater speaks to you? What or who inspires you as an artist?:
ZZ: Theatre that isn’t pushing an agenda on the audience. There’s such a weird stigma that you have to ‘say something’ so people jam unsubtle messages down your throats. I much prefer the route of light, fun and imagination-stimulating performances that activate our fantasy.
VV: I love theatre where the actors are alive and listening to the audience. Serious theatre is so boring. When you have actors who are at their maximum level of happiness together on stage, that’s when the magic begins to show and the performers vibrate.

If you could work with anyone you’ve yet to work with, who would it be?:
VV: I’m already working with Zach Zucker!
ZZ: *blushes* Stop it!

What show have you recommended to your friends?:
ZZ: Nautilus and Kraken by Trygve Wakenshaw and ANYTHING by Dr. Brown. To clarify, that’s not the name of his show. Any time he’s performing, go and see it.
VV:Spaghetti For Breakfast by Sam Simmons is another incredible show. So is The Herbert In Proper Job by Spencer Jones. And if you find yourself in Norway go check out Det Andre Teatret in Oslo!

Who would play you in a movie about yourself and what would it be called?:
VV: Jim Carrey would play me and the movie would be called "No Mask"
ZZ: Chris Lilley would play me because he’d do a great job making fun of me and it would be called "That Guy"

If you could go back in time and see any play or musical you missed, what would it be?:
VV: I would go back to 1974 to see Les Assiettes, a clown show by our teacher Philippe Gaulier. He’s the funniest man I’ve ever met.
ZZ: I’m going to have to agree with that. No footage of any of his performances exists. And from all of the stories we’ve heard, it was a masterpiece.

What’s your biggest guilty pleasure?:
VV: As a young Norwegian I watched every season of "The OC" so I’m pretty stoked about being in California.
ZZ: I love chapstick. No matter what store I walk into, I always find myself in the chapstick aisle buying more and more flavors I’ll never need.

If you weren’t working in theater, you would be ____?:
VV: Building a snowman in Norway.
ZZ: There really isn’t anything else I could see myself doing. Mainly because nothing else worked.. And I mean it really didn’t work.
VV: Yeah we both dropped out of university-
ZZ: I dropped out of three separate schools. I’m three times the dropout Kanye West ever was!

What’s up next?:
VV: We’ve got three more shows in Los Angeles. We’re at UCB on the 11th and Downtown at Basic Flowers on the 14th and 15th before I go back to France. We’re also filming a TV show in LA at the moment. It’s very exciting!
ZZ: Yes we’re filming all of January before we split up again. I’m off to Australia in February to perform at The Adelaide Fringe Festival. I’ll be doing another two-man show with my friend Tom Walker called Zach & Tom: Best Friends at Tuxedo Cat.
VV: Then we’re back in LA in April to perform and finish filming before we return to Europe. We’re performing at The Brighton Fringe, potentially Prague Fringe and heading back to Edinburgh.
ZZ: We’ve also got shows lined up all over in between! We’ll be in London, Paris, Oslo, Copenhagen, Berlin, Bristol, Amsterdam, Dublin and anywhere else that’s willing to have us!

For more on Zach & Viggo check out zachzucker.com and facebook.com/zachandviggocomedy

by Michael Block

Batman and Robin. Bert and Ernie. Peanut Butter and Jelly. Zach and Viggo? While taking their show on the road, Zach Zucker and Viggo Venn took a pitstop at The PIT Loft for a sold out presentation of their acclaimed Zach & Viggo: Thunderflop.

Through a series of comical sketches, Zach Zucker and Viggo Venn take the audience on a journey inside their wild minds. And along the way they must take on some heroic battles including some unruly villainous audience members. Decked out in unitards and tights, Zach & Viggo: Thunderflop thrives upon the thunderous roar of laughter in order to save themselves from flopping in a sea of silence. With a background of physical comedy and clowning, Zach & Viggo can be a dynamic duo, very much like a Bill Irwin and David Shiner tandem, once their bits get a bit of a polishing as a continuous arc. While most of the night Zucker and Venn spend apart, solo in their own scenes, when they are together there is a mesmerizing energy that fills the room. With a simple cardboard "Kiss Cam" and the best of Jock Jams accompanying, Zucker and Venn get a series of unsuspecting audience members to have their chance on the "Jumbotron" and the result is priceless. It's moments like this that make the night a blast. Individually, Zucker and Venn offer a well-balanced comedy. Both guys are super charismatic yet they each have a particular style to their craft. Venn has a classic physical comedy in him in the vein of Monty Python. When Venn breaks out his noodle arm security guard, he shines, like the police siren light taped to his head. Zucker transcends the classical style, contributing a more "commercial" comedy. There's a charm to his demeanor. Between his daredevil feats of stupidity with poppers to his vapid LA actor with a bit of a speech problem, Zucker has a marketable comedic package.
In pieces like this, the desire of breaking down the fourth wall is essential. Many of their beats involved some sort of audience participation. They relied heavily on unwilling participants, many of whom derailed the momentum. With their director, Dr. Brown, defining the clarity of when the audience interaction is desired will be of great worth. Once Zucker and Venn invite the audience to play along, it's fair game for any sort of interaction. Even if it's unwarranted. A heckle or two may seep in and damage the flow. Perhaps even pairing down the participatory moments could help. They should trust their worth as great performers and avoid unnecessary gimmicks. The substance is present. The polishing is next.
Accidental or not, there is a very loose common thread that ties the evening together. The unpopped poppers (or bang snaps or snappers for those of you may have a different item in mind) that explode throughout the night as Zucker, Venn, and their audience friends step on them are a nice throwback to Zucker’s daredevil act but intentional or unrelated is the question. The peeping mouse does help in bookending the show but adding a stronger through line will add an even stronger cohesiveness to Zucker and Venn’s work.
It’s likely this is just the beginning of Zach & Viggo. While a world tour is next, what happens after is what is exciting. There is promise in this young talented duo. Putting a modern spin on throwback comedy is certainly in their wheelhouse. And it’s a welcome reminder of the roots of the genre.

About this production:

Zach & Viggo: Thunderflop
Written & Performed by Zach Zucker and Viggo Venn
Directed by Dr. Brown
Produced by Jonny Woolley
www.facebook.com/zachandviggocomedy

Name: Layla Khoshnoudi

Hometown: Arlington, Texas

Education: MFA in Acting, Brooklyn College

Select Credits: Dido of Idaho (EST); Wyoming (Lesser America); Women (Hollywood Fringe)

Why theater?: Pure empathy, and also interesting times.

Who do you play in The Offending Gesture?: Noble Wolf

Tell us about The Offending Gesture: It's a kind of fascism cabaret with comical, frightening and blinding irony.

What is it like being a part of The Offending Gesture?: Firstly an honor. It's also very fun, and in some ways scary.

What kind of theater speaks to you? What or who inspires you as an artist?: Dance theater or melodrama. At this very moment James Blake and Mary Carr

Any roles you’re dying to play?: Hedda Gabler, Shylock

What’s your favorite showtune?:“Wig in a Box”

If you could work with anyone you’ve yet to work with, who would it be?: Michael Fassbender, duh

Who would play you in a movie about yourself and what would it be called?: Hm. Maybe I would play my dad (I could utilize my experience as Noble Wolf), and it'd be called "Steady". Or maybe "Layla".

If you could go back in time and see any play or musical you missed, what would it be?:Scenes from a Marriage

What show have you recommended to your friends?: I haven't seen recommendable theater in a bit so I'll go with TV: "Transparent"

What’s your biggest guilty pleasure?: Masturbation

What’s up next?:Men on Boats at Playwrights Horizons

Sketch comedy is like that bridge between theater and improv. Comedians being funny in a scripted evening in front of a live audience where anything can happen. Forty years and counting, many aspire to "Saturday Night Live" level but if you can't quite get there to see it, I might have a viable alternative for you. Presented at The PIT Loft, Uncle Function offers an evening of theatrical sketch comedy that is likely to leave you in stitches, at times.

Uncle Function is an ensemble that features the comedic talent of Chris Cafero, Russell Daniels, Alex Fast, Jessica Frey, Douglas Goodhart, and Gianmarco Soresi. Founded by infamous theatrical producer Ken Davenport, this group brings an hour-long evening that mirrors the expectancy of any sketch comedy troupe. The night started off on a super high note with back to back theater inspired sketches, the second of which was the strongest of the evening and quite possibly one of the funniest sketches I've seen in any medium in quite some time. The premise was simple. A borough theater company begin their rehearsals for their production of Fiddler on the Roof. When a heroic Rabbi saves their production by funding their Kickstarter, he is granted laughable permission to update the text to fit the more "traditional" views of Judaism. And the result is epic. It's audaciously racy that stylishly comments on religion, theater, and the dreaded crowdfunding. From here on out, the night provides some fluff scenes before ending strong with three sketches. These included a creepy yoga instructor that left you with the best punch line, an abysmal court stenographer, and a group therapy session for those addicted to pop culture references. The Uncles, as they call themselves, incorporated an array of recurring jokes, including pizza tacos, old headshots serving as all paper products, and common last names that made their way into many of the sketches. It allowed a nice common through line for those paying close attention. With a strong sense of vision, there was a connective tissue that made everything work cohesively.
Uncle Function features a strong sextet that tackles an assortment of roles, each taking a moment in the spotlight. That being said, it's a pretty well-balanced ensemble with a mixed comic types, though some similar types fought for stage time. The biggest presence, on page and stage, was Gianmarco Soresi. Often playing the straight man in the scenes, Soresi has a strong sense of timing and storytelling in short form. Soresi also happens to be the scribe of that epic Fiddler sketch. Also filling the straight man quota was Chris Cafero, though when he took on the touchy-feely spiritual yoga teacher, a playful side of Cafero came out. Russell Daniels stole the show as the slow-typing stenographer who had trouble keeping up with the trial, interrupting with hilarity.
There’s stiff competition in the comedy world but if you’re looking for some up-and-comers that will make you laugh, Uncle Function is here to please. The Uncles may have had some wiffs, but when they swung for the fences, they hit some monster homers.

Name: Abby Rosebrock

Hometown: Summerville, South Carolina

Education: I got a PhD in medieval lit to impress a man.

Select Credits: Original plays include Different Animals (Cherry Lane, 2013), Singles in Agriculture (The Brick, Dixon Place, 2015) and Dido of Idaho (EST Unfiltered, 2015). Select acting credits include Masha in Three Sisters (La Jolla Playhouse/WOW Festival), Meg in Chiara Atik's WOMEN (The PIT, LA Fringe), Priscilla in Singles in Agriculture and Crystal in Dido of Idaho.

Why theater?: Playwriting is the best medium for excavating the poetics of contemporary speech. As an actor, I love discovering how each grammatical detail and turn of phrase reflects a character's desperation. When you can channel that pain in front of a live audience, you can feel their compassion materialize around you. You experience the emotional and social consequences of language in real time.

Who do you play in The Offending Gesture?: It's not so much me playing the role as my canine alter ego, Biscuit, who's also an actress. In The Offending Gesture, Biscuit plays Blondi, a German Shepherd.

Tell us about The Offending Gesture: The play is based on a historical incident, when the Nazis learned a dog in Finland named Jackie could perform the official party salute. The Germans believed Jackie was mocking them and undertook an aggressive investigation. In the play, Hitler's dog Blondi has to grapple with a growing suspicion that her beloved master is, well, everything we know Hitler to be. For me, The Offending Gesture is about what happens when we realize the institutions we're most closely tied to are responsible for terrible wrongs. There are a lot of references to American foreign policy.

What is it like being a part of The Offending Gesture?: It's been a privilege to work on Mac Wellman's writing with so many highly specialized, multidisciplinary artists and technicians. Our director Meghan Finn has given me the freedom to do wild, comedic character work alongside avant-garde theatre-maker Kristine Haruna Lee and my frequent collaborator Layla Khoshnoudi – all the while surrounded by virtuosic musicians, and supported by some of the most captivating design elements I've ever seen.

What kind of theater speaks to you? What or who inspires you as an artist?: Stories driven by bold, intelligent female characters; productions that feature unpredictable and raw performances, as opposed to the slick and polished; playwrights who perform in their own work and the companies that support them

Any roles you’re dying to play?: Some kind of archetypal Wild West woman

What’s your favorite showtune?: Anything from Evita and “If I Loved You” from Carousel

If you could work with anyone you’ve yet to work with, who would it be?: The Australian comedy duo Jane Turner and Gina Riley; the musician Gillian Welch

Who would play you in a movie about yourself and what would it be called?: "Ill-advised Texts to a Man" starring Laura Dern

If you could go back in time and see any play or musical you missed, what would it be?: I keep hearing about the great female performances in Joshua Conckel's The Sluts of Sutton Drive when it first appeared at Ensemble Studio Theatre several years ago.

What show have you recommended to your friends?: A true gem of a reading series on the Lower East Side called Hearth Gods, curated by Michael Yates Crowley and sprinkled with variety acts. Often when I work with someone awesome it eventually comes to light that they've put up work at Hearth Gods at some point or another. Next one's January 30th.

What’s your biggest guilty pleasure?: ABC's "Nashville"

What’s up next?: Continuing to develop my play Dido of Idaho; the one-act “No One Is Home” and excerpts from Singles in Agriculture and Dido of Idaho in forthcoming publications by Smith & Kraus; writing up a storm

For more on Abby, visit http://www.abbyrosebrock.com/webseries/

photo by Sasha Artyunova

Name: Kristine Haruna Lee

Hometown: Seattle and Tokyo

Education: BFA Experimental Theatre Wing, NYU, MFA Brooklyn College for
Playwriting with Mac Wellman

Select Credits:Futurity (The Connelly); How to Get Into Buildings (The Brick); War Lesbian (Dixon Place); A Beautiful Day in November on the Banks of the Greatest of the Great Lakes (City Center, 2015 OBIE winner); The Lily’s Revenge (HERE Arts Center, 2010 OBIE winner)

Why theater?: A friend described theater to me in this way, which I deeply agree with: the theater is a necessary space where we are allowed to invent strategy and systems that are wholly different and new from the broken systems of our own social, political or cultural realities. Isn’t that amazing? I think of theater as always a shared space, a spiritual space, an invented space, a liminal space. I like to think of plays as the blueprints that inspire new systems of change.

Who do you play in The Offending Gesture?: A dog named Jackie

Tell us about The Offending Gesture:The Offending Gesture is like an egg; the yolk is a sweet romance between two dogs. The whites or membrane is the bigger historical framework that points to the political follies of super powers (including Hitler’s Germany and the US) in their attempt towards domination through sweeping political gestures. And the shell is a philosophical question of human nature and behavior understood (and not understood) through the eyes of dogs and mooncats.

What is it like being a part of The Offending Gesture?: It’s an extremely difficult play, and my brain has to sit at the edge of its seat just to remember the intricacy of the words. But totally rewarding at the end of the day.

What kind of theater speaks to you? What or who inspires you as an artist?: Theater that is new, hard, experimental, challenging, exploding. I love this kind of stuff, and I think theater is necessarily a conduit for this kind of work. Playwrights I love and are inspired by are Taylor Mac, Young Jean Lee, Julia Jarcho, Trish Harnetiaux, Erin Courtney, Jess Almasy, Cara Scarmack, William Burke, Kate Benson, Clare Barron, and of course Mac Wellman. I also think Berlin is an inspiring city, it’s the only other place I’d consider living other than New York. I walk down the spree and see kids living in camps alongside the grass and they’re all playing music or together, or I enter abandoned buildings that have turned into nightclubs where you can watch cabaret acts in a tiny room, and I wonder if this is what New York looked like a few decades ago.

Any roles you’re dying to play?: Not off the top of my head. I guess I’ve strayed from that long ago, in the sense that I’ve never really pursued roles, rather, I’m always pursuing working with people who excite me.

What’s your favorite showtune?: Hmm, don’t have one. But I recently got into Sun Ra and he’s basically a showtune for the cosmos. His song “Astro Black” is one of my favorites

If you could work with anyone you’ve yet to work with, who would it be?: I want to work with this performer named Hannah Heller, I’ve seen her in a bunch things and I’m dying to write something for her.

Who would play you in a movie about yourself and what would it be called?: I’ve always found questions where I have to relate myself to a movie star limiting, because there’s an unspoken assumption that I should pick an Asian American star, but there aren’t enough Asian American stars in our current Hollywood that comes close to representing who I am, so. Maybe I can play myself in a movie called: “America’s Race Problems: Can It Ever Be Mended or Solved?”

If you could go back in time and see any play or musical you missed, what would it be?:Four Saints by Gertrude Stein

What show have you recommended to your friends?: Erin Markey’s A Ride on the Irish Cream

What’s your biggest guilty pleasure?: I’m watching "Malcom in the Middle" on Netflix. It brings up a wave of nostalgia each time that I can’t let go.

What’s up next?: My theater company harunalee has a new show coming up at La Ma Ma Club in February titled to the left of the pantry and under the sugar shack, an immersive theater experience inspired by the Memory Palace. It’s an exploratory installation, which is a little bit cosmos and a little bit party, carefully designed and built so you can crawl into it at your leisure. Its familiar yet illusory rooms are the loci of fantastical images, contributed by a multitude of invited artists working in various mediums exploring the magic and meaning of memory. Inspired by Francis Yates' seminal text on the occult nature of memory systems during the Renaissance titled "The Art of Memory", we invite you into a mind ancient in design, but contemporary in its contemplations. We’re currently asking for submission of your memories- dark, haunting, beautiful, orgasmic, terrifying-any kind of memory, which will then be given as a prompt to one of our many stellar guest artists who will transform your memory into a piece of art. If you’d like to submit a memory, you can do so here: http://www.harunalee.com/memory-submission.html

For more on Kristine and harunalee, visit harunalee.com/

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