A theater which has been destroyed...

Just came across this quote by the great Spanish poet and playwright Federico Garcia Lorca:

The theater is one of the most expressive and useful instruments for educating a country; it is also the barometer by which one can measure a nation's greatness or its decline. A sensitive and well-rounded theater (in all its many forms), from tragedy to vaudeville, can change the sensibility of a country in only a few years; and a theater which has been destroyed, where wings have been replaced by hooves, can vulgarize a whole nation and induce them to sleep. The theater is a school of tears and laughter. It is a free and open arena where individuals can expose to the light old or faulty morals, and illustrate with living examples the eternal principles that guide the heart and feelings of man.[my italics]

If ever vulgarized nations were in need of a change of sensibility....

Lorca was executed by baddies in the Spanish Civil War, so the quote comes before the advent of television and film and perhaps Lorca would've included those in his claim. Still, he seems to speak to the specific power of the stage and its potential.

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recent articles on a dying artform

• 11/2/11 Meanwhile . . . a noir-spoof mystery at the Ruba Ballroom (Arts America)
• 11/2/11 InterAct’s THE HOW AND THE WHY is Well Written and Full of Ideas (Stage Magazine)

An overview of the Philly theater scene

I wrote this for the Philadelphia theater page at Arts America, where I'll be a regular theater blogger (visit my author page for the latest). They had to cut it down a bit, (here it is) but I thought I'd post the unedited version.

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Philadelphia theater is rich in its diversity and output, with over 100 companies presenting thousands of performances every year. The city boasts a long-standing tradition of theatrical production—Center City’s Walnut Street Theatre is the nation’s oldest continuously operating playhouse, having recently celebrated its 200th anniversary.

The Walnut is joined by a number of other major resident theaters in putting on shows of a quality in scope to match almost any in the county. Old City’s Arden Theatre Company is lodestar of this group, presenting consistently high-quality seasons of new and classic works. Along Broad Street, known as the city’s Avenue of the Arts, the Philadelphia Theatre Company’s stylish Suzanne Roberts Theatre hosts an array of major theater events, including many world and national premiers by contemporary American playwrights.

A generous offering of smaller spaces and non-resident companies add flavor to the Philly theater scene, each filling their own unique niche. Stalwart Plays and Players has now been in its elegant historic space for 100 years. InterAct Theatre, resident at the multi-stage Adrienne Theatre (a good place to look for top small local companies), produces mostly new work of a politically conscious hue. The city’s only all-comedy company, 1812 Productions is guaranteed for humor fests. The Lantern Theatre, which stages in the rear space of a Center City church, is the place for quality classics—their Shakespeare shows are regularly the best in town. (Also look to the resident Philadelphia Shakespeare Theatre if the Bard’s your thing.) Other top independents such as Theatre Exile, BRAT Productions, and Simpatico Theatre Project can be seen on the second stages of the city’s theaters and other smaller spaces around town.

Cutting-edge theater in Philadelphia reaches a peak every September, when the annual Live Arts Festival and Philly Fringe presents a smorgasbord of commissioned and independent productions. Experimental works by the best regional companies combine with visits from national and international groups and small venue shows by the city’s up-and-coming performers for a unmissable two-week citywide event.

At the other end of the spectrum, Broadway comes to Philadelphia under the auspices of the Kimmel Center for the Performing Arts’ Broadway Series, which presents touring shows at the Merriam Theater, Forrest Theatre, and elsewhere. The University of Pennsylvania’s Annenberg Center also hosts national tours of a high quality.

Beyond Center City, West Philly’s Curio Theatre, Kensington’s Walking Fish Theatre and Papermill Theater, and Mount Airy’s Sedgwick Theater, are within easy reach of public transportation—and well worth the trip. In the city’s suburbs, Malvern’s People’s Light and Theater boasts the best production values of a number of high-quality theater venues that includes Media’s Hedgerow Theatre, Ambler’s Act II, and Pottstown’s Tri-County Performing Arts Center.
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Recent theater articles:

• 10/28/11 “I see dead artists”: Haley Joel Osment returns to Philly in PTC’s RED (Arts America)
• 10/8/11 Tracy Letts’s AUGUST: OSAGE COUNTY: A Modern Great at the Arden (Stage Magazine)

Best of Philadelphia Theater, 2010-2011

The Barrymore Awards ceremony is tonight, and I'm not there, but that doesn't mean I don't have my own opinions about the best actors and productions of last season. I didn't see a bulk of the Barrymore nominees (for one thing, I didn't go to the much-nominated Wilma; for another, I rarely go to musicals), but I did make it to over 50 shows last season, many of them short runs, staged readings, or other productions not eligible for the awards. Here are my picks from those I saw and remember:

Best Play: El Conquistador, (Lucidity Suitcase Intercontinental)
Honorable mention: Blasted (Luna Theater Company); Lydia (Amaryllis Theatre Company); A Moon for the Misbegotten (Arden Theatre Company)

Best Actor: John Jezior, Blasted (Luna)
Honorable mention: Leonard C. Haas, Vigil (Lantern Theatre Company); Thaddeus Phillip, El Conquistador, (Lucidity Suitcase Intercontinental); Eric Scotolati, Great Expectations (Curio Theatre)

Best Actress: Grace Gonglewski, A Moon for the Misbegotten (Arden)
Honorable mention: Mary Tuomanen, Hamlet (Philadelphia Shakespeare Theatre), Anna Deavere Smith, Let Me Down Easy (Philadelphia Theatre Company)

Best Supporting Actor: Jerry Rudasil, Titus Andronicus (Plays and Players Theatre)
Honorable mention: Brian McCann, Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead (Curio)

Best Supporting Actress: Johanna Carden, Lydia (Amaryllis)
Honorable mention: Ceal Phelan, Vigil (Lantern),

Best Director: Matt Pfeiffer, The Lieutenant of Inishmore (Exile)
Honorable mention: Matt Pfeiffer, A Moon for the Misbegotten (Arden); Allen Radway, The Cryptogram (Simpatico Theatre Project)

Best Original Script: John Rosenberg, California Redemption Value (Hellafresh Theater)
Honorable mention: David Stratten White, Simulations (Plays and Players); Catherine Rush, Main Line (BCKSEET Productions [reading]); David Robson and John Stanton, Playing Leni (Madhouse Theater Company); John Rosenberg, Queen of All Weapons (Hellafresh Theater); Josh McIlvain, Carter's Play (SmokeyScout Productions [reading])

Best Ensemble: Lieutenant of Inishmore (Exile)
Honorable mention: Dublin by Lamplight (Inis Nua), Lydia (Amaryllis)

Best Set Design: Daniel Krause, Losing the Shore (BCKSEET)
Honorable mention: Kevin Depinet, Superior Donuts (Arden)

Best Lighting Design: Thom Weaver, A Moon for the Misbegotten (Arden)
Honorable mention: Dan Ozminkowski, Let Me Down Easy (PTC)

Best Sound: John Moletrass, The Crucible (Tri-PAC and Village Productions)
Honorable mention: Ryan Rumery, Let Me Down Easy (PTC)

Best Costumes: Alisa Sickora, Carrie (BRAT Productions)
Honorable mention: Richard St. Clair, Wanamaker's Pursuit (Arden)

It was fun to think back on all the shows, thanks to all the performers and production artists who entertained me over the year. See also: my picks from the 2009-10 season

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Recent theater articles:
9/6/11 A Voyage of Wonder: WHaLE OPTICS at the Live Arts (Stage Magazine)
9/1/11 Arts Alive! picks for the 2011 Live Arts and Fringe (Where Magazine Philadelphia)
9/1/11 10 Picks for 2011 Philadelphia Live Arts Festival and Philly Fringe (Philly2Philly.com)
8/31/11 Neighborhood Picks for the Philly Fringe (Spirit newspapers)
6/4/11 Madhouse Theater Company's PLAYING LENI is Spellbinding (Stage Magazine)
6/1/11 Bringing Women’s Voices To The Stage: an interview with Polly Rose Edelstein of Crack The Glass Theatre Company (Philadelphia Performing Arts Authority)
6/1/11 Cracking the Glass Ceiling with AN EVENING OF ONE-ACTS (Stage Magazine)
5/30/11 'Vigil' and Older Audiences at the Lantern (Broad Street Review
5/23/11 Why's Everyone Such A Critic? Theater People vs. Theater Critics (Philadelphia Performing Arts Authority)

Theater People vs. Theater Critics...The Ultimate Debate

I've been a lover of the stage as long as I can remember. Mostly this love has been realized as a patron of local theaters. My father acted in community theater, and I had a scene onstage with him as his fictional son. In high school, I worked backstage on the light board and was rounded up for one dance number in my senior year production. A couple short pieces I wrote were selected for a short play festival a few years ago. I helped out last year at a friend's Fringe show. For most of my theater experience, though, I've been in the audience, a non-participant.

Still, the world of theater has always attracted me. When I first started to review plays, I thought "right, this is it, now I'm part of the world." I soon realized that "theater people" don't see it that way. Telling an actor or director that you are a "theater critic" is like telling them you like to kill puppies. It's not a good idea if you want to continue a conversation.

This is a shame, because reviewers have much in common with the people they review. Both are huge theater fans, with a great knowledge of drama and an eagerness to talk about plays shared by few outside the industry. It's not easy to create a play and to realize it on stage, but it's also a craft to critique that play intelligently, to have confidence in your vision and opinion, and to offer meaningful analysis or sound recommendations.

Certainly, I have objections to some of the reviews I see published in Philly outlets. Generally that's just because the reviewer did not share my judgement. At times though, criticisms can seem irrelevant or petty (a remember one piece when a critic complained about someone chewing gum a few rows away... mmnh). I have ideas about what is fair and not fair to write about a production, and those are not universally shared (or necessarily kept to by your faithful correspondent). But I know how hard it is to write a analytical journalism piece under deadline or for scant reimbursement. And if one well-educated experienced theatergoer had that opinion, however seemingly minor, others probably did too. A tough review can kill a small play run, and that's a shame, but the critic's commitment is to the reader, not to the playwright or director.

Broad Street Review, a local online media outlet which publishes regular personal-essay theater reviews of  generally good quality, has organized an interesting conversation on this subject, on Thursday, May 26, at the Franklin Inn Club. The panel discussion will feature Bernard Havard of the Walnut Street Theatre, Charles McMahon of Lantern Theatre and Seth Rozin of InterAct facing off against Broad Street Review's critics Robert Zaller, Gresham Riley and Jim Rutter, with website editor Dan Rottenberg as moderator. It's too bad the talk is set up as a us-v-them debate, but that's too often how the relationship is viewed.

Theater People vs. Theater Critics...The Ultimate Debate
Date: Thursday, May 26, 2011
Time: 5 to 7 p.m.
Place: Franklin Inn Club, 205 S. Camac St. (below Walnut, between 12th and 13th St.), Philadelphia.
Admission: $8 in advance; $10 at the door.
Light refreshments will be served.
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Recent articles
5/9/11 Talkin' Irish with Madi Distefano of Brat Productions (Philadelphia Performing Arts Authority)
5/7/11 Brat Productions’ CRAIC Fringes the Irish Theatre Fest (Stage Magazine)
5/4/11 Commedia, Terrorism, and Royalty: Inis Nua’s DUBLIN BY LAMPLIGHT (Stage Magazine)
4/19/11 Amaryllis Theatre Company Brings an Excelente Lydia to the Adrienne (Philaculturati.com)
4/5/11 Bleak Complexity: SPEAKING IN TONGUES at the Walnut’s Independence on 3 (Stage Magazine)
3/29/11 One Woman, Many Voices: LET ME DOWN EASY at PTC (Stage Magazine)
3/23/11 Review of BCKSEET Productions’ Losing the Shore (Philaculturati.com)

Updike's guide to reviewing

Submit to whatever spell, weak or strong, is being cast. Better to praise and share than blame and ban. The communion between reviewer and his public is based upon the presumption of certain possible joys of [theater], and all our discriminations should curve toward that end.
—John Updike

I’ve been reviewing Philadelphia theater for a couple years now, and I feel like I’m just starting to think about what I’m doing and about what criticism is and should be. I came across this guide to reviewing literature and art by John Updike. I found it really informative and I'm trying to incorporate its precepts into my criticism.  Reviewing is not easy, and I don't know how successful I will be, or how valid this guide is, but I've taken it into consideration. (I've changed references to "books" to "plays" and the like, but left all the masculine pronouns. See Updike's wikipedia page for the original list, first published in his introduction to Picked-Up Pieces, his 1975 collection of prose.)

1. Try to understand what the author [or director, or actor] wished to do, and do not blame him for not achieving what he did not attempt.
2. Give enough direct quotation — at least one extended passage — of the [play]'s prose so the review's reader can form his own impression, can get his own taste.
3. Confirm your description of the [work] with quotation from the [play], if only phrase-long, rather than proceeding by fuzzy précis.
4. Go easy on plot summary, and do not give away the ending.
5. If the [play] is judged deficient, cite a successful example along the same lines, from the author's œuvre or elsewhere. Try to understand the failure. Sure it's his and not yours?

To these concrete five might be added a vaguer sixth, having to do with maintaining a chemical purity in the reaction between product and appraiser. Do not accept for review a [play] you are predisposed to dislike, or committed by friendship to like. Do not imagine yourself a caretaker of any tradition, an enforcer of any party standards, a warrior in any ideological battle, a corrections officer of any kind. Never, never... try to put the author [or director, or company, or actors] "in his place," making of him a pawn in a contest with other reviewers. Review the [work], not the reputation. Submit to whatever spell, weak or strong, is being cast. Better to praise and share than blame and ban. The communion between reviewer and his public is based upon the presumption of certain possible joys of [theater], and all our discriminations should curve toward that end.

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Recent Articles:
3/16/11 It’s The End of the World As We Knew It: New City’s PTERODACTYLS at the Adrienne (Stage Magazine)
3/14/11 The New and Old of It: Interview with BCKSEET’s Gregory DeCandia (Philadelphia Performing Arts Authority)

Lots of Theater

First, Philadelphia is in the United States, so despite this blog's name, I've decided that theater should be spelled theater, not the English/French theatre. Right.

I've been seeing lots of theater recently and writing about much of it, and neglecting this blog. I meant to start compiling "reviews of reviews" like the one on 1812's An Evening without Woody Allen and Theater Exile's Shining City. But I haven't. Next season perhaps.

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Recent Reviews:
3/7/11 Contemporary Staging, Timeless Issues: THE CRUCIBLE at the Tri-County Performing Arts Center (Stage Magazine)
3/4/11 Lieutenant of Inishmore by Theatre Exile at Plays and Players (philaculturati.com)
2/21/11 Great Expectations at the Curio Theater(philaculturati.com)
2/17/11 Sarah Kane's Controversial Play 'Blasted' Comes to Philadelphia's Luna Theater Company (philly2philly.com)
1/22/11 Musical theater kicks off Mauckingbird Theatre Company’s fourth season (philly2philly)

Other Theater Writings:
2/22/11 Don’t worry folks, he’s not like that in real life (or so he claims): Interview with Blasted’s John Jezior (Philadelphia Performing Arts Authority)
1/12/11 California Fresh: New Theater Company Opens in Kensington Arts Space (Spirit Newspapers)
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The latter article isn't online anymore, except through a flip-through copy of the weekly newspaper, Spirit. Unedited submission follows:

California Fresh
New theater company launches in Kensington arts space
by Christopher Munden
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The back streets of Kensington may not have much in common with the popular perception of Hollywood, California, but as John Rosenberg will tell you, life in the L.A. acting scene isn’t all glamour and glitz either. As a kid growing up among Los Angeles actors, Rosenberg experienced the gritty underbelly of the California dream. His mother was a drama coach, and throughout his childhood and adolescence he was surrounded by the real-life dramas of her acting students and friends.

These experiences formed the background for California Redemption Value, the first full-length production by Kensington’s newest theater company, Hella Fresh Theater. “It’s all based on my family,” says Rosenberg, who wrote and directed the play. “It’s about five people — based on me, my sister, my mother, and two of her students — marooned in a one-bedroom Hollywood apartment and all the lying and crazy sh*t that went on.”

Situated in a former paper mill on a side street in run-down section of West Kensington, Hella Fresh’s newly built space, Papermill Theater, provides the perfect setting for this comedy of perfidy and pretense in a dysfunctional L.A. family.

As California Redemption Value opens, the characters are coming to terms with the revelation that one of them lied to the group about having AIDS. But don’t be fooled by the subject matter. “The play’s tagline [“AIDS, Suicide, Murder: In California saying it is as good as doing it”] sounds really heavy,” Rosenberg explains. “But although it’s all personal, it’s really a comedic celebration of the redemptive powers of lying.”

The play’s first act was performed as a stand-alone short in Hella Fresh’s inaugural production, Cheap Guy Hall of Fame, Class of 2010, staged as part of the annual Live Arts and Philly Fringe. The five-play showcase received rave reviews from the Inquirer and other publications and Rosenberg’s fresh voice and edgy comedy marked him as one of the standout writers of the 2010 festival.

In his capable hands, issues as sensitive as 9/11, the Iraq War, murder, and infidelity became launching pads for seriously funny explorations into the psyche of “cheap guys,” a California term for “tasteless, trashy douche-bags.” Rosenberg’s characters may be unsympathetic and their incivility may go unpunished, but they never come across as anything other than real people. “In writing, I try to understand what drives and motivates people, even when they’re doing things we’d all condemn,” he says.

Rosenberg co-founded his first dramatic company, Sleepwalkers Theatre, in San Francisco in 2006. The group had established itself as a cutting-edge producers of original work by the time Rosenberg left the company to form Hella Fresh with his longtime girlfriend. After a couple Bay Area productions, Hella Fresh relocated to Philadelphia last year when Rosenberg and his partner moved here to be near her family.

Rosenberg cashed in his retirement fund from years of non-profit work in San Francisco to build and outfit the 50-seat venue at the newly established Papermill Community of Artists near Somerset El stop in Kensington. The Papermill Theater is part of vibrant arts center with four floors of studio space available for artists, dancers, and actors above a large art gallery and the intimate theater. In addition to the cheap rental rates, each resident artist donates several hours a month to artistic outreach in the surrounding community.

“So far the response from the community has been great,” says Rosenberg. “It’s exciting to stake out a new place on Philadelphia’s theater circuit.” Rosenberg has been impressed by existing diversity of his adopted city’s drama scene. “There are a couple great companies in San Francisco, but it’s remarkable how theater is such an ingrained part of Philadelphia culture.” At the Papermill Theater, Rosenberg hopes to bring this love of plays to new audiences. “I want to do champagne theater on a beer budget, which should feel right at home in Kensington.”
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California Redemption Value runs January 15th through February 6th, at 2pm on Saturdays and Sundays. Tickets are $10. The Papermill Theater is located at 2825 Ormes Street. For tickets and more information, email hellafreshtheater@gmail.com or visit CaliforniaRedemptionValue.blogspot.com.

A Weekend of Christmas Plays

Amazingly, there is just one weekend left until Christmas, but that's still plenty of time to get your fill of holiday theater. Here is the pick of this weekend's festive fare.

1. Dublin Carol. (Amaryllis Theatre Company, the Adrienne. $10.) There are about 10 versions of the Christmas Carol story onstage in the Philadelphia region this weekend. Skip them all, but see this: Irish playwright Conor McPherson is one of the best of this generation. This is his drink-singed version of the classic Christmas tale. Tickets here.

2. Merry F***ing Christmas and other short plays of holiday cheer. (SmokeyScout Productions, Quig's Pub Stage at Play's and Players Theatre. $10.) SmokeyScout's Boat Hole was one of the hits of this year's Fringe Festival. Playwright Josh McIlvain returns, this time with directing duties, with eight irreverent festive shorts acted by some of the funniest people of the Philly stage. Tickets here.

3. The Santaland Diaries. (Flashpoint Theatre Company, $18-$20.) Humor writer David Sedaris's modern-day classic about life as an elf in Santa's grotto. Seriously funny in previous years. Tickets here.

4. Irving Berlin's White Christmas. (Walnut Street Theatre, $10-$95.) A little bit of old-time holiday classic. I'm sure it's over the top and as silky sick as the original, but it's what the Walnut does best, and sometimes it's what you need in the holiday season. Tickets here.