Welcome
John William Tuohy lives in Washington DC
*** OPPORTUNITIES FOR PLAYWRIGHTS ***
This year the Theatre Southwest Readers' Theatre Matinee will happen on Sunday,
Jan. 22nd, 2023 at 3:00 P.M. and is accepting 5-10 minute scripts. Selected
plays will be read and voted on by the audience in attendance and the Audience
Favorite will receive a $100 cash prize!
***
Lifeline seeks submissions from writers of color outlining their intent to
develop a stage adaptation of a book or other literary work (e.g., short story,
article, memoir, tale, poem, etc.). Proposals can be for traditional
adaptations or “inspired by” approaches where the literature serves as a
jumping off point, but the source material should be in the public domain. Only
one proposal per writer will be accepted.
***
Now in its 35th year, NAMT’s Festival of New Musicals is the cornerstone of
NAMT’s mission to be a catalyst for nurturing musical theatre development and
production. Every year, we feature eight musicals in short presentations for an
audience of over 700 industry professionals. We look for new musicals at all
stages of development from the broadest possible range of voices.
*** FOR MORE INFORMATION about these and other opportunities see the web site
at https://www.nycplaywrights.org
***
*** SECRETS WILL BE REVEALED ***
This dazzling world premiere welcomes you into Jaja's bustling hair braiding
salon in Harlem where every day, a lively and eclectic group of West African
immigrant hair braiders are creating masterpieces on the heads of neighborhood
women. During one sweltering summer day, love will blossom, dreams will
flourish and secrets will be revealed.
More...
https://www.manhattantheatreclub.com/upcoming/
***
Holiday season is a time for celebration! Twas A Night of Improv Games is an
OPEN Short Form JAM! Games bring families together and strengthen friendships,
and most of the time no one gets hurt. Stories will be Told – Things will be
Made Up – Secrets will be Revealed.
More...
https://www.azactorsacademy.com/theatre-upstairs/
***
In order to keep up his spirits, his doctors have lied to him about his true
condition. His wife is in denial. Their Golden Boy son, Brick, has taken to
drink. Their eldest son, Gooper, is trying to take charge of affairs. The
daughters-in-law, Maggie and Mae, are squaring off to see who can secure the
biggest chunk of one of the largest estates in the Mississippi Delta for their
husbands. Long-standing rivalries and resentments along with some deeply
held secrets will be revealed...
More...
https://whatzup.com/cat-on-hot-tin-roof-first-presbyterian-stages-williams-pulitzer-prize-winner/
***
The prosperous Birling Family is gathered to celebrate their successes and the
engagement of their daughter Sheila to Gerald Croft when the sudden arrival of
the mysterious Inspector Goole brings the celebrations to a halt. Goole is
investigating the apparent suicide of a young woman. Are the Birlings
responsible? What deep, dark and complex secrets will be revealed?
More...
https://listings.intermissionmagazine.ca/theatre-productions/an-inspector-calls/
***
Megan and Kimmy are fourteen-years-old, best friends, and currently planning to
commit grand larceny against country music star Rick Montgomery at his concert
tonight. As they put their plan into play, songs will be sung, secrets will be
revealed...
More...
https://newcityplayers.org/littlemontgomery
***
Moe, drifting in and out of the dementia that accompanies his illness, also
has conversations with his altar ego, the glamorous and beautiful
torch-singing drag queen Lupe, the fabulous one that is the center of Moe’s
fantasies.
Now Moe is Latino, so that means before he goes he will be in a confessional
frame of mind. And more than skeletons will be coming out of the closet at this
particular get-together. Long-hidden secrets will be revealed...
More...
https://www.performingartslive.com/Events%5CDementia-415201084122
***
If you’re one of the 400 lucky followers of @newplayrobot, you’ve been treated
to some of the funniest theatrical criticism of the decade in the form of an
obscure novelty twitter account. @newplayrobot’s handle speaks for itself; it
is a robot that generates “play ideas of the moment,” the kind that artistic
directors “love.”
For anyone who has found themselves slogging through self-important drafts in a
playwriting class or through famous people’s manuscripts as part of a literary
internship, @newplayrobot’s mocking attitude towards the stubborn cliches of
American drama are incredibly cathartic.
Here
are a few:
“Home for Easter Susan spends weekend with alcoholic mother/estranged sister.
Secrets revealed. Speech featuring ‘but I stayed!’ Title: Her”
“Play: After being disbarred, Sue is forced to confront how she neglected her
family. Sitting and talking. Secrets revealed. Title: Side Bar”
“New play idea: Urban couple returns to country roots after inheriting family
home. House is character. Secrets revealed. Title: Good Bones.”
It should be noted that though @newplayrobot skewered several genres—it hasn’t
tweeted in about a year—every single tweet incorporated “secrets revealed” at
some point.
The
shared understanding and sense of collective exhaustion that makes
@newplayrobot so funny to me is at the heart of the problem many people have
with the genre of the “family play,” a term that—over the past several
years—has become more and more pejorative.
More...
https://www.pastemagazine.com/theatre/the-way-the-world-ends-on-10-years-of-august-osage/
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Playwrights
*** FREE THEATER IN NYC ***
New Music Theatre Project presents PREMIERE NIGHT 2022
Two new world premieres from two groundbreaking artists:
ARUBA, a new musical by Andrew Porter
THE BARE MIND-imum, a concerto for violin and piano by Ariana Bell
PLUS a sneak peak of Chris Dieman's song-cycle NEW YORK IS DEAD
Shows at 2 and 7pm* December 16, 2022
The performances will take place in Scorca Hall at The National Opera Center: 330
7th Avenue, 7th Floor in New York City.
The program will last approx 2 hours with two (2) short breaks.
Please arrive on time as the program will begin promptly.
*A reception will take place after the 7PM program where refreshments will be
served.
https://www.eventbrite.com/e/nmtp-premiere-night-2022-tickets-454412238237?aff=ebdssbdestsearch
*** THE NEGOTIATING STAGE ***
STRUGGLING WITH A DRAFT? STUDY PLAYWRITING WITH THE MAN WHO WROTE THE BOOK!
Award-winning playwright, Jeffrey Sweet has a few places open in his weekly
playwriting class. This is your opportunity to work one-to-one with the man who
wrote “The Dramatists Toolkit”, the best-selling book on playwriting. Sessions
begin on the first Sunday of each month and cost $140 per month. That’s just
$35 per class.
Get ONE FREE LESSON here:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CNIQCSMY5tI&t=1s&ab_channel=JeffreySweet
SIGN UP for the next session here: www.thenegotiatingstage.com/classes
*** HUNTER COLLEGE MFA PLAYWRITING PROGRAM ***
The Hunter College MFA Playwriting Program is accepting applications through
January 15th! The program is a highly selective, rigorous, and affordable
two-year playwriting program located in the heart of NYC. We seek writers eager
to develop their craft and challenge assumptions about what theater is and will
become.
Students study with award-winning writers, working theatre professionals, and
esteemed guest artists. The program offers workshop opportunities and fosters a
collaborative, close-knit artistic community. Teaching Assistantships and
tuition waivers are available.
Current and recent faculty include: David Adjmi, Clare Barron, Mia Chung, Lisa
D'Amour, Maria Striar, and Lloyd Suh. Visiting artists for 2021-2022 include:
Eboni Booth, Sharon Bridgforth, Sheila Callaghan, Morgan Gould, and Daniel
Alexander Jones.
For more information, visit: https://www.huntertheatre.net/mfa
*** OPPORTUNITIES FOR PLAYWRIGHTS ***
The 2023 OOB Festival will be accepting submissions. Short plays and musicals
can be no longer than 15 pages and have a max run time of 15 minutes (ideal run
times are between 8-13 minutes). If submitting a musical the page limit should
reflect the libretto.
***
Fresh Words-An International Literary Magazine is accepting submissions for
Special One Act Play Anthology series 'Hello Godot! (Volume -4)'. The One Act
Play must have GODOT (Reference 'Waiting for Godot') as a character OR motif OR
there should be recurring reference of GODOT with theme/s of futile
wait/absurdity of existence/inaction/circular plot etc.
***
The EST/Sloan Project commissions, develops and presents new works delving into
how we view and are affected by the scientific world. These plays examine the
struggles and challenges scientists and engineers face from moral issues to the
consequences of their discoveries.
The Project is designed to stimulate artists to create credible and compelling
work exploring the worlds of science and technology and to challenge existing
stereotypes of scientists and engineers in the popular imagination. The Project
commissions and develops new works throughout EST’s developmental season,
including one Mainstage Production, as well as workshops and readings in an
annual festival called FIRST LIGHT.
*** FOR MORE INFORMATION about these and other opportunities see the web site
at https://www.nycplaywrights.org
***
*** MORE THEATER ARTICLES FROM THE ONION ***
Mingling at intermission during the opening-night performance of the
playwright’s latest work, members of high society were about to fucking snap if
Clarence Wadleigh’s Haut Monde continued to make clever, lighthearted jests
about their foibles, sources confirmed Wednesday.
More..
https://www.theonion.com/high-society-gonna-fucking-snap-if-playwright-says-one-1847083053
***
As the national debate surrounding school shootings continues with President
Trump recently suggesting educators carry guns in the classroom, high school
English teacher Mary Bacher told reporters Thursday that she was already armed
with a deadly weapon called Shakespeare.
More...
https://www.theonion.com/english-teacher-already-armed-with-deadly-weapon-called-1823427645
***
In an effort to accommodate pupils who are realistic about their chances in the
industry, the performing arts conservatory Juilliard announced Wednesday that
it had formed a new business school for students who realize the whole acting
thing is probably a long shot.
More...
https://www.theonion.com/juilliard-opens-business-school-for-students-who-realiz-1847423020
***
TikTok is in hot water after some dangerously sincere videos. Hear how the
company is backtracking today after having their platform flooded with millions
of videos featuring insufferable high school drama club students. (Audio
feature)
More...
https://www.theonion.com/tiktok-apologizes-after-inadvertently-giving-platform-t-1844697265
***
Noting the fat paychecks he’d received for his work on Broadway and in
Hollywood, Hamilton star Lin-Manuel Miranda announced Thursday that “You people
are giving me too much fucking money.”
More...
https://www.theonion.com/lin-manuel-miranda-you-people-are-giving-me-too-much-f-1841494909
***
Providing insight into the culture of early Western civilization, historians
from the University of Oxford announced Friday the discovery of new evidence
revealing that ancient Greeks immediately regretted inventing theater. “Our
research shows that directly after developing theatrical performances as a way
to honor the gods during religious festivals, the people of sixth-century Athens
realized what a terrible thing they had done,”
More...
https://www.theonion.com/new-evidence-reveals-ancient-greeks-immediately-regrett-1823641762
***
Describing a wild scene in which performers and stagehands were loudly
conversing, laughing, and occasionally breaking back into their characters from
the play, sources confirmed Sunday night that the cast party for the local
production of Our Town is currently going off the rails.
Members of the Peekskill Players, who just concluded a four-show run of the
play at the Old Mill Theater downtown, told reporters the festivities at the
home of assistant director Rachel Mullen have only grown more out of control as
the night has progressed, spurred on by a 12-pack of craft beer and a bottle of
Yellow Tail Shiraz purchased for “the best Webbs and Gibbses the world has ever
seen!”
More...
https://www.theonion.com/our-town-cast-party-going-off-the-rails-1819578265
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*** OPPORTUNITIES FOR PLAYWRIGHTS ***
Through an open submission process, Middlebury Acting Company is looking for three new plays for our second American Dreaming New Play Festival. This festival aims to amplify three unproduced, unpublished plays that address the question: What does the American Dream mean today? The selected plays will each receive two rehearsals, dramaturgical feedback, and a culminating public staged reading followed by a carefully moderated talkback with the audience.
***
We are inviting submissions for our first 10-minute drama anthology titled ‘HEARTS & GUNS’ . The anthology will be published in e-book as well as paperback formats. Please submit your work as per the following guidelines:
a) The anthology covers the theme of world wars in general and wars in particular, so 10 minute plays revolving around or refering to these broad themes are welcome.
***
The subject of reproductive justice is one too often simplified by our current dialogues. And too often the voices and perspectives of the people most affected by restrictions, legislative prohibitions, and cultural prejudices are excluded from our artistic institutions.
A is For seeks to change that. We believe that theatre is a powerful platform through which to share stories, debunk myths, and create lasting change. We believe that theatre can transform. We want to challenge the abstract, politicized, and stigmatized ways people think about abortion and reproductive justice. We want to amplify voices which can reframe the conversation. We want to support and promote artists who can dispel myths and misconceptions. We want to hear the stories you want to tell.
*** FOR MORE INFORMATION about these and other opportunities see the web site at https://www.nycplaywrights.org ***
*** OPPORTUNITIES FOR PLAYWRIGHTS ***
June Bingham New Playwright Commission ~ This commission opportunity provides
resources and support toward the creation and development of a new play by
early-career women/femme and/or non-binary storytellers. The opportunity will
culminate in a 60-minute 2-person play that will be workshopped and presented
as a reading for an audience at L&IC’s Fall Retreat in September of 2023.
***
FRESH WORDS 5 MINUTE PLAYS ANTHOLOGY ~ We are open for submissions for our Special
5 Minute Play Anthology 'CONTEMPORARY NEW YORK PLAYS-2022' .
1. The 5 Minute Play can be about:
a) Social,/cultural/ economic life in New York.
b) Literary trends in New york.
c) New York theatre life.
d) Migrants in New York.
e) New York and American Dream
f) Individual and New York city.
g) New York & human values
h) New York and broken dreams
i) New York and writers/artists
j) Any other topic of interest that is not covered above but deals with New
York.
***
Musical Theatre: Live & In Color is looking for playwrights, composers, and
lyricists of color and/or other underrepresented communities interested in
developing their new musical.
The selected musical submission will have a two-week workshop in the fall at
The Bingham Camp in Salem, Connecticut culminating in a staged presentation to
an invited audience.
*** FOR MORE INFORMATION about these and other opportunities see the web site
at https://www.nycplaywrights.org
***
*** IN THE PIT ***
The number of musicians in a Broadway pit orchestra has always been a point of
contention between the American Federation of Musicians, Local 802 and the League
of American Theatres and Producers. These two organizations have had many
collective bargaining agreements that have helped dictate and alter the size of
orchestras on Broadway. On one side you have the musicians, who are concerned
with preserving jobs and the musical integrity of a show, and on the other you
have the producers who are trying to ensure the overall and financial success
of the show. This thesis examines these orchestral changes through a
technological, economic, and societal lens to help understand the basis for
these change
More...
https://digitalcommons.otterbein.edu/stu_dist/87/
***
A PEEK AT THE ORCHESTRA PIT: Not only does The Producers have the largest
orchestra (21 members including the conductor!) since our very first Broadway
show, My Fair Lady, it's also the largest orchestra currently performing in the
Chicagoland area. No small feat. Get a peek inside the orchestra pit in this
video hosted by Producers Music Director and Conductor Tom Vendafreddo. It's a
rare look into a small space that's home to some huge sounds!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9O9Ao9NuhdE
***
Audiences rarely see one of the most memorable parts of a live production.
Most theater and dance performances feature live musicians tucked in a
sub-stage orchestra pit, blasting and crooning melodies that enhance the show
without audiences often realizing it.
But this wasn’t always so.
As part of The Smith Center’s ongoing blog series exploring the history of
theater magic, discover below how the orchestra pit originated.
A CROWDED STAGE
When the advent of opera in the late 1500s transformed live performances, it
led to an unexpected dilemma: a crowded stage.
Orchestras accompanying the performances were often placed on stage alongside
the actors, with as many as 50 musicians sharing the spotlight.
“Monteverdi's ‘L'Orfeo’ probably had 40 or so musicians sitting on the stage in
a hall that had an audience of about 200,” says theater writer Brad Hathaway.
By the late 1700s, some theaters seated orchestras in front of the stage —
which led to referring to a theater’s main level as the Orchestra Level.
But this only proved dangerous for musicians.
“Patrons could be quite demanding and threatening,” Hathaway says. “Musicians
in Boston printed a notice asking the ‘thoughtless or ill-disposed not to throw
apples, stones and other missiles into the orchestra.’"
More...
https://thesmithcenter.com/explore/smith-center-blog/the-invention-of-the-orchestra-pit/
***
Getting work as a musician on Broadway (1996), either as a regular or as a
substitute, is not easy. As is the case with many job searches, it is often
knowing someone that counts. "The whole business is set up on a referral
and networking basis," Mr. Russo said. "But often musicians go on the
road first to break in."
That's exactly what Mary Stephenson of Greenwich is doing. In July she joined
the Raoul Company for a one-year national tour with "Phantom of the
Opera." She moves every six to nine weeks, recently having left California
for Arizona.
More...
https://www.nytimes.com/1996/01/14/nyregion/it-s-a-long-trip-to-the-orchestra-pit.html
***
Broadway, looking to regain its prepandemic audiences, is relying on boldface
names such as Hugh Jackman, Daniel Craig, Sarah Jessica Parker…and Mike
Boschen.
Mr. Boschen is in the current revival of “The Music Man.” He is a trombonist,
and they are having a moment.
In “Hadestown,” trombonist Brian Drye appears on stage and interacts with the
cast. (As one theater observer noted on Twitter: “Phenomenal cast and all, but
the trombone is the real star.”) In “Chicago,” trombonists Bruce Bonvissuto and
James Burton III have coveted places on stage with the rest of the orchestra.
“We can feel very viscerally the energy coming from the audience,” says Mr.
Bonvissuto.
Then, there’s Mr. Boschen in “The Music Man.” “This is probably the coolest
trombone part I’ve ever gotten to play” on Broadway, says the 48-year-old
journeyman, who has performed with about 40 productions in a career that
includes shows both familiar (“Cats”) and forgotten (a musical adaptation of
Aristophanes’ “The Frogs”).
More...
https://www.marketwatch.com/story/whos-sliding-into-a-big-role-on-broadway-trombonists-11647802145
***
Seymour Red Press remembers the days when Broadway shows were bankrolled by
mobsters, when marijuana was a staple of the pit, and when brilliant maniacs
like Jerome Robbins, Jule Styne, and Charles Strouse were creating the world’s
greatest musicals. Theater may be ephemeral, but Red’s woodwind lines will live
forever on the original cast albums of shows like Gypsy, Mame, Chicago, and
Dreamgirls. In Mack & Mabel, he played the melancholy saxophone solo in
“Time Heals Everything”; in the 1992 revival of Guys and Dolls, he played the
sublime, bluesy riff at the beginning of “My Time of Day.” Now 93, Red shows no
signs of slowing down. He has hired the musicians for every Encores! show since
the series’ inception and is an unparalleled source of musical theater lore.
“He’s like Yoda,” says Encores! artistic director Jack Viertel. “When Yoda
talks, you listen.” On a recent afternoon, we did just that.
CITY CENTER: How did you get your first Broadway gig?
SEYMOUR RED PRESS: I grew up in the era of the big bands. When I was 13, Benny
Goodman was like Elvis Presley; it was the best music I’d ever heard in my
life. As soon as I put a saxophone in my mouth, I knew that it was what I
wanted to do. My dream was to play with Benny Goodman—and I did, in 1957 at the
Waldorf Astoria. That same year, I got married and got my first Broadway show,
The Body Beautiful. It was a flop, but it was the beginning of a career I
couldn’t have imagined.
More...
https://www.nycitycenter.org/About/Blog/2017/Yoda-of-the-Orchestra-Pit/
***
TIPS FOR THE PIT
Have all of your equipment with you in an easily accessible place. This
includes instrument stands, pad blotting paper or cigarette paper (very
important – I cannot tell you how many times I’ve used my music to wipe off
condensation from my pads in a pit-related emergency), a set of tiny
screwdrivers (you can pick these up from the dollar store), ear plugs, pencils,
and small bottles of water. You likely will not have a lot of space to store
these things so try to bring a small bag that can be draped over the back of
your chair for essentials. I really like to use a simple drawstring backpack
for this purpose.
More...
https://racheltaylorgeier.org/2018/08/03/tips-for-the-pit/
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*** OPPORTUNITIES FOR PLAYWRIGHTS ***
Sundog Theatre's longtime, interrupted-by-the-pandemic series "The
Originals" continues this winter on MakerPark Radio's internet-based
station in NYC. Sundog is seeking plays that actors will read, broadcast live
on the web, and heard/seen throughout NYC, the US, and worldwide in January
2023.
***
The West Side Show Room is seeking new 10-minute works which will be presented
in a staged reading on January 19-21, 2023 in Rockford, Illinois. We accept
spoken word poetry, plays, monologues, stories— or anything written for live
performance.
***
The Atlanta Shakespeare Company is launching a new playwriting initiative for
historically marginalized artists. The "Muse Of Fire Playwriting
Festival'' invites playwrights of the global majority to create a full-length
play that reimagines Shakespeare’s themes and plots through the lens of BIPOC
America.
*** FOR MORE INFORMATION about these and other opportunities see the web site
at https://www.nycplaywrights.org
***
*** DEMOCRACY ***
In the Sophocles play “Antigone,” King Creon, after ordering the execution of
his niece for betraying him, asks, “Am I to rule for others, or myself?”
Haemon, Creon’s son and Antigone’s lover, in his shock and grief, replies, “A
State for one man is no State at all.”
This simple exchange, written around 441 B.C., demonstrates how one character
came to challenge the autocracy of another in early Greek theater, and how
Sophocles, Aeschylus and Euripides nurtured the idea of fairness and
representation for all during the brief two centuries of Athenian democracy.
Their plays, among the 32 that survive from what are thought to be thousands
from this era among many writers, are the earliest representations of how
democracy helped change Western civilization.
More...
https://www.nytimes.com/2022/10/06/world/europe/greece-democracy-theater.html
***
Frayn's play is densely historical, an information-fat study of the
"Guillaume affair" that upturned German politics in the 1970s. The
dialogue about coalitions – met with knowing titters on press night – comes
early, when West German chancellor Willy Brandt (Patrick Drury) is struggling
to hold together his government. As in real life, Brandt and his advisers
(William Hoyland's party elder Wehner; David Mallinson's ambitious cabinet
member Schmidt; Aidan McArdle's oily yes man Guillaume) come to have bigger
problems. East Germany, with which left-leaning Brandt seeks an entente, has
put a spy in Brandt's government. It's Guillaume, a man so close to his boss
the two share evening wine and confidential telexes. They even holiday
together.
More...
https://www.theguardian.com/stage/2012/jun/24/democracy-frayn-review
***
Theater and democracy were born in the same place at the same time – in Athens
2,500 years ago — and that is no coincidence: One led to the other.
The creation of theater festivals in the 6th century BCE brought the four
warring tribes of Athens into a common space to share a common experience,
which engendered a new sense of unity, and of community. ( “In a characteristic
attempt to ensure full participation by the citizens,” one source notes, “those
eligible were paid to attend the dramatic performances.” !!)
Democracy took root shortly after these festivals began. Athens’ unprecedented
period of citizen power and engagement developed simultaneously with its
unmatched burst of theatrical creativity led by the playwrights Aeschylus,
Sophocles, and Euripides.
More...
https://newyorktheater.me/2021/01/10/theater-and-democracy-born-together-both-now-under-attack/
***
When exploring the benefits and limitations of representative democracy through
art, what better way could there be to do so than by having the audience of
said art engage in that kind of democracy themselves? Students used this unique
format during “Democracy Theater — City Council Meeting,“ a play born out of
the fall freshman seminar FRS 143: “Is Politics a Performance?”
Staged as part of Wintersession on Monday, Jan. 25, the play was a reenactment
of a city council meeting in Trenton, N.J., in which the audience itself
participated as actors. It was meant to invite reflection on the character of
representative democracy and the power imbalance it creates between those who
are represented and those who represent them.
The play opened with a recorded video of an apolitical person expressing their
dissatisfaction with electoral politics. The narrator tried, through his use of
persuasive rhetoric, to convince him that democratic institutions are worth
participating in. The video then cut to black as the creative team called on
members of the audience to participate as actors in the play. Some of the
actors became councilors, while others became members of the public, and all
volunteers were given scripts. The rest of the play was about the interaction
between these two groups of people.
More...
https://www.dailyprincetonian.com/article/2021/03/democracy-theater-politics-local-gov-freshman-seminar-review
***
The earliest instance we have of the Greek term for demagoguery (demagogia)
appears in the Knights. It meant initially no more than “leading the demos,”the
demos being the largest political class that is by definition the poorest and
so the least educated. But “demagoguery” soon came to have the same odor it has
for us. A demagogue is an unscrupulous master of slippery rhetoric who, for his
own ends, plays the crowd like a cheap fiddle. As a character in the Knights
puts it, “demagoguery no longer belongs to a man acquainted with the things of
the Muses or to one whose ways are upright / But to somebody unlearned and
loathsome.”
In the play Cleon is dubbed “Paphlagon” (roughly “Blusterer”), a servant of the
Athenian people who are presented as a single householder, Mr. Demos. (Think
Uncle Sam.) Athens’s two greatest generals at the time, Demosthenes and Nicias,
also appear as servants of Mr. Demos and so see first-hand the dirty tricks
Paphlagon-Cleon is up to. In cooperation with the upper-class knights, these
great military men plot to restore Athens to something like the grandeur of its
past. Make Athens Great Again!
More...
https://www.ucpress.edu/blog/52300/demagogues-democracy-an-ancient-comedy-for-modern-times/
***
“The Minutes” had its official opening Sunday at Broadway’s Studio 54, in a
juicily subversive production directed by Anna D. Shapiro. Taking place during
a closed city council meeting in mythical Big Cherry in Almost Anystate,
U.S.A., this sterling comedy-drama starts in unassumingly sedate fashion.
Ninety minutes later, it explodes like a meticulously wrapped gift that had
been hiding a live grenade. What unfolds in between is a scathing satire of the
American way — which is to say, the official predilection for denial, denial,
denial of the country’s historic sins, particularly as they concern the cruel
treatment of its original inhabitants.
“Democracy’s messy,” Big Cherry’s mayor, played with impeccable control
freakiness by stage and film actor Letts himself, opines to the council’s
dissenting member, Mr. Peel (an outstanding Noah Reid). That declaration is a
smokescreen for the ongoing effort to perpetuate Big Cherry’s Big Lie —
concerning the town’s origin story — which playwright Letts exhilaratingly
brings to light, point by mendacious point.
More...
https://www.washingtonpost.com/theater-dance/2022/04/18/the-minutes-tracy-letts-broadway/
***
Theater is the essential artform of democracy...truth comes from the collision
of different ideas and the emotional muscle of empathy are the necessary tools
of democratic citizenship.”
Oskar Eustis, Artistic Director of The Public Theater in New York, speaks to
the importance of dialogue in theater to give perspective and empathy, that
truth is not held within one person, but by the conflict of various points of
view.
https://live.stanford.edu/2020-digital-season/oskar-eustis-why-theater-essential-democracy
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*** OPPORTUNITIES FOR PLAYWRIGHTS ***
We are inviting submissions for January 2023 issue of 'Literature Today-An International Literary Journal'. The theme of our January 2023 issue is 'Love'. You can send us poems, short stories, memoirs and one minute plays on:
1. love at first sight
2. poem/story/one minute play in memory of a loved one
3. love as an aesthetic experience
4. love and teenagers
5. love and romance as predestined event
6. love relationships and role of gods
7. love and marriage
8. love as illusion
9. love in the age of internet
10. lovers as rebels
11. platonic love
12. love and immortality
13. disappointment/deceit in love
14. lovers as saints
15 any other theme related to love
***
The Old Lady Project is an initiative to encourage the development of plays and musicals that feature significant roles for women over 50. Plays will be submitted to a national panel of directors and producers and two staged readings will occur in Evanston per year. A directory of works will be featured on the Old Lady Project webpage to facilitate connections between theatre companies, directors and producers.
***
Think Fast Festival 2023 ~ Plays can be either dramas or comedies but must be no more than 15 minutes running time and applicable to a Zoom production (small casts, simple settings, etc.). The running-time restriction is absolute and plays that exceed 15 minutes will not be considered. Plays invited to participate must be rehearsed, ready-to-perform and must supply their own actors and directors. Playwrights may submit only one play – make it your best There is no restriction on previously produced plays.
*** OPPORTUNITIES FOR PLAYWRIGHTS ***
To celebrate the vitality of classical themes in new work, PAC invites
playwrights to submit for consideration for our third annual New Ventures Play
Festival. The theme for the plays is The Evolution of Human Rights
5 plays of no more than 10 minutes each will be selected for a staged reading
during our festival taking place in June at the Proscenium Theatre at the
Drake.
***
Over the next two years InterAct will commission three plays to be written
about and with Philadelphia communities that are under-represented on local
(and national) stages.
The first of the three Philly Cycle commissions will focus on the city’s
community of African American Muslims, which numbers around 200,000. We are
seeking U.S.-based playwrights who would be interested in spending time in
conversation with this community and telling a singular story that centers this
community.
***
Currently Seeking 10-Minute Plays & Monologues for Smith & Kraus
Publications
• Monologues must be from plays. They cannot be stand-alone pieces.
• They must be from plays produced between April 2022 and July 2023.
• Staged Readings performed live or virtually will be accepted only if the
readings occurred in the above-mentioned window will be accepted.
• Monologues should be from 1-3 minutes long.
• Monologues should be active pieces that work well for auditions.
• Please include a descriptive blurb containing a brief summary of the play;
the name/age of the character; to whom the character is speaking, and the
dramatic context of the scene.
*** FOR MORE INFORMATION about these and other opportunities see the web site
at https://www.nycplaywrights.org
***
*** TRANSLATING PLAYS ***
How does one translate “Hamilton” into another language? That was the challenge
facing Sera Finale, a rapper-turned-songwriter, and Kevin Schroeder, a seasoned
musical theater translator, when they were asked to collaborate on a German
version of the show — the first in a language other than English.
The project turned out to be just as complicated as they had feared: complex
rhyme schemes, elaborate wordplay and so many songs. There were drafts and
demos and revisions; a member of the “Hamilton” music team, Kurt Crowley,
learned German to help coordinate the process, and ultimately Lin-Manuel
Miranda, the show’s creator, had to approve or reject each line.
More...
https://www.nytimes.com/2022/09/14/theater/hamilton-translation-german.html
***
I began translating plays in 2002. I was a jobbing actor, euphemistically
“resting,” and looking for a way to stay creative and to make use of my
languages degree. So I went to the London Instituto Cervantes (the Spanish
cultural center), found their library, headed for its tiny theater section, and
plucked a title out from the shelf. It was Primavera (Springtime) by Julio
Escalada, a Spanish actor, playwright and, today, professor of playwriting at
the RESAD, Spain’s royal academy of dramatic art. I liked the feel of the
play—a restless farce of interwoven love triangles—and I translated it. Then,
since I had a translation, I figured I may as well do something with it, so I
contacted Julio and sought his permission to produce the play at the Finborough
Theater, an off-West-End above-a-pub venue famed then and now for its
commitment to new work.
More...
https://wordswithoutborders.org/read/article/2016-12/december-2016-translating-theater-feature-william-gregory/
***
American audiences don’t get access to many contemporary plays originally
written in another language despite the burgeoning number of talented
playwrights in the US and around the world who are creating work for the stage
in languages other than English.
Traditionally, classic European plays such as those written by Moliere, Henrik
Ibsen and Anton Chekhov are the only works regularly presented. There’s an
ongoing fear that Americans won’t be able to relate to or understand
transcultural and international work. There’s also the question of how much all
this costs.
One of the ways to help change hearts and minds is the indispensable effort of
translators who work in the theater. Their work is often unsung and
misunderstood.
More...
https://witonline.org/2022/08/08/finding-meaning-in-translating-words-and-culture/
***
In the globally interconnected community in which we exist, translation has
become a part of our daily life. We listen to songs whose lyrics we have to
look up in order to sing, we watch movies that have been subtitled, and we read
books written in languages we cannot even begin to understand. That is all to
say, translation surrounds us, and we must navigate a world that depends on it.
However, I always thought about translation as a solely linguistic endeavor
that transformed one language into another and failed to see it as a process
that also bridges chronological divides. These divides are apparent when
thinking of ancient texts. Still, these did not quite count in my head since,
well, no one speaks Latin or ancient Greek beyond an academic setting, and the
translation of these texts is not only helpful but necessary for people to
access them. The chronological divides that I would encounter through the
process of translating “Los novios aburridos”, a short play written and
published in Spanish in 1817, were much subtler, though.
More...
https://blogs.library.jhu.edu/2022/08/meet-our-freshman-fellows-elena-echavarria-on-translating-an-untranslated-spanish-play-2/
***
What’s the difference between translating non-fiction and translating plays?
When you translate non-fiction, you have to put yourself in the shoes of French
readers. It is the context of the reader you need to consider, the context of a
reader who does not know Martinelli. For Aristophane dans les banlieues.
Pratiques de la non-école, I sometimes eliminated passages that contained
references that would have been meaningless to French-speaking readers, but I,
of course, always discuss this first with the author, with whom I can luckily
work very closely. I also added a chapter on Martinelli’s experiences in Kenya
with the non-school, basing it on an interview I had done with him. At the end
of the book, I translated and published Noboalphabet, a text that is essential
if you want to understand the Teatro delle Albe – it is a sort of guidebook in
which Marco speaks poetically about his idea of theatre and the principles (but
also “non principles”) that guide his search.
More...
https://www.newitalianbooks.it/translating-theatre-interview-with-laurence-van-goethem/
***
Yale University Press is pleased to join with all those who celebrate
International Translation Day on September 30, 2022 to recognize and appreciate
the vital role that translators play in cross-cultural understanding and the
peaceful exchange of ideas.
We particularly wish to salute translators of literature, who enable great
works of literary art to reach readers who might not otherwise have access to
them.
A mission-driven commitment to literature in translation
In 2007, Yale University Press established the Margellos World Republic of
Letters series, named for Cecile and Theodore Margellos, the generous donors who
inspired and empowered it. In the decade and a half since then, this
passionately mission-driven publishing endeavor has brought to the
English-speaking world the work of dozens of leading literary artists and
thinkers from Europe, Latin America, Africa, Asia, and the Middle East.
Margellos titles celebrate the spirit of International Translation Day all year
round, as they stimulate international discourse and creative exchange.
More...
https://yalebooks.yale.edu/2022/09/30/celebrating-international-translation-day-2022/
***
HAMLET in French
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Kb_voCqu250&t=324s
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