A Fresh Take on Shakespeare

skullcrownred

Occasionally, my facebook wife and fellow ICBINS business partner Julia will invite me along to some off-off-off production or workshop and I’m usually skeptical and almost always half-dreading it in the days preceding.  But one thing remains constant: I am ALWAYS proven wrong and end up enjoying the hell out of the performances.  Never again will I doubt her.  This past weekend Julia asked if I’d come see NYNEO’s workshop performance of William Shakespeare’s Henry VI.  To be honest I had never read this play or seen a production of it before and I was a little unsure of how I’d receive it.  You see, a few years ago Denzel Washington shot me with a tranquilizer gun, wait no – I saw him in an excruciatingly soporific Broadway rendition of Julius Caesar, and since then I’ve been afraid of falling asleep through Shakespeare. (more…)

Published in:  on August 26, 2009 at 3:13 pm Comments (2)
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college you broke my heart but now i’m over it for real

Winnemuccaahh the 2009 school year approaches.  another soul-shaking reminder that we’re out in the real world now.  speaking for myself, i still haven’t forgiven College for throwing me out on my ass like an old used up girlfriend when I was always so good to him – so good.

but you know what? you know what, College?  i’m glad it’s over.  turns out things are pretty all right here out here in the cold.  and by cold i mean my 90+ degree non-airconditioned convent cell that I’m forced to live in because i had to pay for you and now i have no money.

just so happens lots of us NYU-exes are keeping busy this august.  this friday, I’m planning on catching Dan Moyer’s play Winnemucca at The Fringe which has been getting great reviews.  especially looking forward to this because last october, icbins had the pleasure of hosting a reading of an earlier draft as part of our reading series.

also, our pals at new york neo classical continue to be the shit.  Yesterday, i saw their workshop of Henry VI (abridged) directed by our favorite, Bill Griffin.  i love these guys.  even as it continues to evolve, Henry VI was every bit as much of a pleasure as their spring production of Measure for Measure.

more good stuff from us ex-tischies to come in 2009 i’m sure, even as we welcome the freshly dumped class-of-2009 into our comforting open arms.

- j.

You got one more chance to catch Winnemucca at The Fringe – Friday, August 28th at Venue #5, The Lafayette St. Theatre @ Theaters at 45 Bleeker.   Performances by Jenni Putney, Grayson DeJesus & Will Brill, written by Dan Moyer & directed by Wren Graves. Buy tickets here.

Published in:  on August 23, 2009 at 8:31 pm Leave a Comment
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a fear of commitment

Doing much better than when i last checked in.  finished my draft of The Play That Was Lost yesterday at an airport terminal – again. (incidentally wondering if The Play That Was Lost is a better title than the one I’m currently working with.)

fuck yes

fuck yes

there are few good feelings like the exhilaration of finishing a draft of a play but this time i feel tremendous relief to be moving on to other projects – some short form, completing that screenplay, etc.. And although i have little justification for feeling this way, i’ve been scolding myself for months for taking too long and doing too much work on what is essentially a first draft. my gut is telling me that i must have done something wrong to be trudging along in the mud and obsessing over and incessantly tweaking this silly draft in a way i’ve never obsessed or tweaked before.

Am i being a little mean to myself?  To expand on some themes Chiara touched on in her last post…  How can a young writer ever measure how successfully they are doing their job? by the number of completed works? by hours spent plugging away? cups of coffee consumed? What?

as unanswerable a question as this should be, there are always those with strong opinions indeed:

(more…)

Published in:  on August 3, 2009 at 10:27 pm Comments (2)
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