Tweet of Consciousness: LOVE, LOVE, LOVE (Mike Bartlett, Roundabout Theatre Company)

Continue reading “Tweet of Consciousness: LOVE, LOVE, LOVE (Mike Bartlett, Roundabout Theatre Company)”

Explaining My TWEET OF CONSCIOUSNESS

In my continued efforts to cover everything that I see on Write All Nite, I’ve been tweeting my character-restricted, and thus brief thoughts on movies and some shows and other works of art that don’t compel me to go deep on them in a fully-realized, and thus fully-verbose piece. Click here to follow me on Twitter to read these updates in real time, but for those not as technologically-savvy, I’ve also decided to post them on Write All Nite in a new series titled ‘Tweet of Consciousness.’ As the name – and the prior explanation – suggests, these will be my stream of consciousness reactions to whatever I see that doesn’t warrant lengthier responses. They will all retain Twitter’s format, but for those not familiar with it, all you really have to know is that you should read the tweets as they’ll be presented in all subsequent posts: from top to bottom in their chronological order. The titles of each post will contain (in parentheses, like so) the name of the director for movies, and the names of the playwright plus the producing theatre company for theatre.  Continue reading “Explaining My TWEET OF CONSCIOUSNESS”

“MASTER HAROLD”…AND THE BOYS: Great Playwrights…make average directors

The Signature Theatre Company’s revival of “Master Harold”…and the boys by Athol Fugard – which he also directed – unexpectedly called to mind the necessity of the separation of church and state to a country’s success. Even though the play does not particularly delve into civic theology (religion is only mentioned in passing), Signature’s production served as yet another reminder of one of my more tried-and-true artistic tenets that’s just as crucial to the continued vitality of theatre as the ol’ ‘church and state’ adage is to government: the separation of a playwright from his play through the all-important intermediary of a director.

Continue reading ““MASTER HAROLD”…AND THE BOYS: Great Playwrights…make average directors”

Mirrors Up to Nature…Anything Else?

Three recent off-Broadway productions – Horton Foote’s The Roads to Home at Primary Stages, A.R. Gurney’s Two Class Acts at the Flea Theater, and En Garde Arts’ Wilderness at the Abrons Arts Center – made me ponder how much accurately depicting the lives of specific people not often given the time of day on stage should be valued. Though holding up a mirror to nature has always been one of the foundational tenets of art, after years of audiences being treated to ‘reflections’ of almost every different type of character imaginable, I’m now left wondering if plays that achieve nothing more than presenting these now-familiar reflections can justifiably be criticized for not striving for, well, more… 

Continue reading “Mirrors Up to Nature…Anything Else?”

Boogaloo Down Broadway or: My Worried yet Loving Thoughts on How to Stop a Bruce Springsteen Musical from Bombing

Earlier this week, Michael Riedel of the New York Post reported that Bruce (Springsteen…for those who don’t know me) – after years of purportedly refusing to sell his music for others’ artistic (and financial) gain – is now open to lending his vast musical oeuvre to a Broadway musical. 

Continue reading “Boogaloo Down Broadway or: My Worried yet Loving Thoughts on How to Stop a Bruce Springsteen Musical from Bombing”

THEATRE FOR ONE Postscript

After posting my thoughts regarding Theatre for One’s current residency at the Signature Theatre Company’s Pershing Square Signature Center, I received a few questions regarding the logistics of attending this abnormal event. As such, I figured it would behoove everyone if I answered them publicly here:

Continue reading “THEATRE FOR ONE Postscript”