Notes from Justine: Winter 2011 Writer/Director Forum

Notes from Justine Winter 2011 Writer/Director Forum Rehearsals

WEEK 1 – DECEMBER 1-4: A Time and Place for Everything

What a great time I had on Monday, November 14 observing Forum Week 1 rehearsals!  Each of these shows is about a very specific and very different place and time.  It’s a rare treat to see inspiration coming from these unusual settings.  Each setting (detailed below) creates a world that has its own rules and imperatives.  The clarity of these backdrops helps each story being told to hold us captive and keep us questioning as the plot points are revealed

THE GOLDEN TICKET

Written by Jennifer Barclay, Directed by Anais Koivisto

Featuring: Kati Rae Cowardin, Joey Lozada & Thami Moscovici

Set in the not too distant future, The Golden Ticket is about a contest to receive an experience once common but now rare and precious, an uncertain daughter with a mom desperate to give something of her own youth to her child, and a daughter seemingly uncertain of the value of anything…as teens tend to be.

GARDEN OF ASHES

Written by Jan O’Connor, Directed by Estefania Fadul                  

Featuring: Cindy de la Cruz & David Harrell

Oscar, a record keeper for the "cremains" of thousands of unclaimed dead in a large city, is visited by a young woman looking for her long lost love.  An office filled with records, books, organization and…remains- lost remains, unclaimed humanity.  Who could be so uncared for they were not even claimed?  Or was it the lost who choose not to care?

Pedestrian Casualty: Bronx, USA

By Nina Mansfield, Directed by Christina Neubrand     

Featuring: Manny De La Cruz, Shannon Harris, Alexandra Hiotakis, Keenen Jones, Darla Juniper, Josh Mahaffey, Norma Perez-Hernandez & Austin Young

A school teacher.  A student.  A car crash.  The Bronx; high school, teachers who care, students who don’t, or is it the other way around?  Does anyone care?  In fact it’s possible they all care.  Sometimes caring isn’t enough and what’s broken doesn’t get fixed, just more broken.

This is a very strong threesome of plays.  Original ideas told clearly and with sympathy to the human problems at the center of complicated situations.  The three formidable ladies at the helm of these plays have ideas and a clear understanding of the material they are working with.  I am excited to see these plays blossom into full production.

Extra thanks go to this week’s Assistant Directors/Stage Managers Francesca Galbo and Taylor Reynolds for being such a great part of our discussions and helping create smooth transitions throughout the night!  Also what a great treat to have Lighting Designer Ryan Metzler attend the same rehearsals as I did.  Why didn’t we think of that earlier…? Perhaps this could be the beginning of a beautiful policy…

WEEK 2 – DECEMBER 8-11: Strange and Stranger

Watching Week Two’s rehearsals on Monday 11/21 I was struck by all the many many ways humans can be strange, weird, unusual, odd.  There’s flat-out insanity of course, there’s awkwardness that just might be normal but might be quite quirky and there’s the inherent strangeness of lying.  People are so bizarre when they know they aren’t telling the truth aren’t they?  Most of the time we don’t know what is making them act so odd but as an audience we are let into their internal machinations and can enjoy the weirdness.  Of course these three plays also have stories and situations to go along with their odd inhabitants.

‘FRAILTY THY NAME IS WOMAN’

Based on the works of William Shakespeare,

Adapted & Directed by Katherine Sommer

Featuring: James Bascomb, Samantha Cains, Kevin Hoffman,

Lilli Stein & Nick Zappetti

This is an exciting mash-up of two great plays by the Bard.  When you put together Ophelia and Lady Macbeth clearly the theme is madness.  It’s fun to see these two ladies take their journeys through sanity and out the other side together.  What do they have in common?  More important in my mind was the question what do these two women need from each other?  Wouldn’t it be a different world if Lady M. could advise Ophelia?  Could the Lady learn to keep herself together if she had the presence of the fair Ophelia to shore her up?  Although it’s a pair of tragedies the result is surprisingly fun.

THURSDAY MORNING

Written by Elizabeth Swearingen, Directed by Jessy Grossman                     

Featuring: Daniel Blatman, Olivia Boyle & Lesley Noyes

Sweet young love is here.  Or is it?  Um, that’s always the problem at the beginning isn’t it?  Is this real?  Are these feelings going to last?  Does he/she REALLY LIKE ME???  Some of the most eternal questions of life are present in this slice of life.  They may not be the meaning of life or even the answer to why the sky is blue but we’ve all been there and we feel the urgency and importance of that sweet moment keenly with the two young people breaking their fast together for the first time.

Azaleas

Written by Erin Leigh Steiner, Directed by Laura Hirschberg            

Featuring: Rory Kulz & Chanel Thomas

What happens when the one you love is no longer the one you trust?  This is about murder!  Whodunnit?  He said/she said. She says she doesn’t remember and he says it was her… but why? And they love each other so they are going to stick together whatever may come.  But, still, why?  Why would they kill him?  What is the real reason for the tension in this moment?  How could it not be the dead body!?  People can be weird and sometimes the dead body is not the real skeleton in the closet.  What are they really upset about?  Could it be their relationship?  And what are they going to tell the police?

I loved Assistant Director/Stage Manager Caroline Angell’s summation of the evening; An evening of Love and Murder!  Perfect.  I really enjoyed getting to know her through our discussions after each play!

WEEK 3 – DECEMBER 15-18: Brief but Not Slight

This Monday, November 28, I observed the final week of this December Forum.  There are four plays in this one yet the evening stays well below two hours.  Clearly they are short.  Yet while not lengthy these plays are not insubstantial, they address issues of guilt (lots of guilt), loss, betrayal, and the human need for contact.

THE STAKEOUT

Written by K. Alexa Mavromatis, Directed by Sarah Simmons

Featuring: Kiley Rothweiler & Anna Drezen

In this piece we see two young girls watching someone.  Over the course of the play we will discover who he is.  We also see the girls’ relationship develop as they learn things about each other they may or may not have known but are only now coming to understand.  Will they find the courage to approach this mystery man?  Should they?

FRIENDS

Written by Karin Diann Williams, Directed by Karyn DeYoung    

Featuring: Nathalie Frederick & Kea Trevett

Here again we have two young girls but these two are not friends.  It’s even hard to understand why they are together.  They are different.  One of them is a bit strange but then what teenager isn’t a bit strange?  In the end they are reaching for something.  It might be human connection.  It might be a bit of magic in their lives.  Whatever it is I think they need it.  I hope they find it.

He Says His Name Is John

By Laura Rohrman, Directed by Ashley Scoles

Featuring: Hazen Cuyler, Josiah Laubenstein & Caitlin Morris

A dream apartment seems to be the central issue in this play.  What is wrong with this amazing apartment??  But there may be other things wrong here.  Is this couple as happy as they seem?  What has happened to her job?  And then there’s this guy John, their real estate agent.  But the new neighbor looks just like him…

SIDEWALK CRACKS

By Brit Hawkins, Directed by Gretchen Ferris 

Featuring: Kate Dickinson, Billy Roberts and Jodi Savitz

Sometimes you know the difference between right and wrong.  And then you do it anyway.  A classic love triangle.  He is cheating on her, with her.  It’s simple and so is the play but then it’s complicated.  Real human situations are always complicated and so is the play.  On the verge of a stereotype the play sidesteps that completely by being real and making us care.  These people are trying.  They are imperfect and needy and it leads to a mess that can’t be easily swept under the rug.  I particularly enjoy the depiction of a mistress who is not the obvious other woman.  She is her own woman, not an extension of anyone else.

There is a lot of exciting work here.  It doesn’t hang together in any obvious way but when I spoke with the Assistant Directors/Stage Managers Gina Femia and Kitty Lindsey about how they viewed the evening as a whole they had enlightening viewpoints to share.  Gina said that these plays are all in some way about people wanting to be seen and accepted for who they are and Kitty added that in these plays we see people confronting their insecurities and facing the qualities in themselves they are least proud of.  I thank them both for their wonderful insights throughout the evening!

This Forum is going to be an exciting and enlightening trio of evenings!

Justine Lambert
Artistic Director
Looking Glass Theatre - http://www.lookingglasstheatrenyc.com/

Read my recent director to director interview - http://www.2amtheatre.com/2011/08/24/spotlight-meet-justine-lambert-director/

Follow us on Twitter! http://twitter.com/LookingGlassNYC
Find us on Facebook! http://www.facebook.com/LookingGlassTheatreNYC
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THE GOLDEN TICKET

Written byJennifer Barclay, Directed by Anais Koivisto

Featuring: Kati Rae Cowardin, Joey Lozada & Thami Moscovici 

Halloween Special- CALAMITY JANE!

Friends of Looking Glass Theatre! 

If  you are reading this then you're in for a great deal!

To celebrate the Halloween weekend we are offering a special discount for this weekend (10/29, 10/30):

COME IN COSTUME and get a Special Discount for

CALAMITY JANE BATTLES THE HORRIBLE HOOPSNAKES

Thisweekend only: Adults $10, Kids $5!!!!!

So join us in the Wild Wild West for some wild wild fun!

Justine Lambert

Artistic Director

Looking Glass Theatre - http://www.lookingglasstheatrenyc.com/

Read my recent director to director interview - http://www.2amtheatre.com/2011/08/24/spotlight-meet-justine-lambert-director/

Follow us on Twitter! http://twitter.com/LookingGlassNYC

Find us on Facebook! http://www.facebook.com/LookingGlassTheatreNYC

Follow our blog! http://lookingglasstheatre.blogspot.com/

MAGNIFY YOUR DIRECTING- Workshop with Justine Lambert, 10/22

Magnify Your Directing

With Justine Lambert

A directing workshop to put some oomph behind your urges.

Where:  Looking Glass Theatre, 422 West 57th Street
When:   Saturday, October 22, 3:30-6:30pm

You have the creativity, you have the ideas with inspiration to spare, now you just need to implement those ideas with as much passion and conviction as you feel.

This class is an accelerated sketch of what needs to be done.  In three hours we will touch on implementing concepts, crafting the acting to serve your needs while being true to your actors own impulses and telling the story through the lens of your vision.

The class begins with an email exchange in advance to ensure that you are prepared and can get the most out of the class time.  Scenes are assigned for you to read and think about in advance, and our talented Fall 2011 acting interns will be there; ready to work, grow and get to know you and your aesthetic.

Breakdown of activities;  Meet and Greet; Accelerated Viewpoints Workshop; Concept Discussion, initial direction and showing of scenes;  Staging with Viewpoints Workshop; Moderated Scene work; Final Showing;  Wrap Up discussion

Cost:  $20 suggested.  No one will be turned away due to lack of funds.

Space is extremely limited, email lookglassjustine@aol.com to reserve your space.

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About Justine...

Justine Lambert is the founder and artistic director of Looking Glass Theatre in New York started in 1993.  A recipient of The Lucille Lortel Award for her work with Looking Glass she has been working in theater in NY for over 25 years; directing, writing, acting in and producing dozens of shows, ranging from classical to contemporary, traditional to experimental.  In 2003, she was named one of the top 100 New Yorkers by NY Resident magazine.  Her direction of Three Sisters at Looking Glass won an Off Off Broadway Review Award for Best Production and her Direction of M at Turnip Theatre won her Honorable Mention as Best Director.  From 1989 through 1991, she was co-Artistic Director of Peregrine Theater, a company that produced classics and children’s work in Central Park. http://lookingglasstheatrenyc.com/JustineLambert.html

Justine in the Press (selected quotes):

Blood Sky

"The production is wonderfully directed by Justine Lambert who is obviously gifted at coaching and working with performers.  ~ Hi Drama

Cardboard Moon

"Cardboard Moon is a joyous piece of work. Writer/Director Justine Lambert focuses ... and moves through the story swiftly and efficiently, keeping the audience highly entertained while relating a simple but not insubstantial message." - Washington Square News
"The acting is daring from start to finish.  The play calls for stylized, overblown bits of stage business and for snatches of absurd dialogue, all of which are performed delightfully." - Columbia Spectator
"Works wonderfully ... Lambert draws nice parallels between fantasy and reality, the past and the present, and new and old forms of theater." - TheaterMania.com

The Three Sisters

"Ms. Lambert directed a real dramatic feast against great odds." – OOBR
"...directed by Justine Lambert, has all the profound seriousness inherent in a Chekhov play coupled with all of the palpable energy and vivaciousness of a new theatrical company-a winning combination. Lambert's production has added many small touches to The Three Sisters that go a long way towards winning the audience's heart." - Columbia Spectator

Laodamia: Queen of Epirus

The director "discovered and sucked the passionate marrow of ...an obscure 17th century play.... (the director) and (her) cast are up to the challenge." -TheaterMania.com

Richard III

The production "breathes the enthusiasm and creativity of its cast and director." - The Fordham Observer
"The all-female cast (is) this change...valid? My answer ..was instantly yes." - The Hunter Word

Justine Lambert
Artistic Director
Looking Glass Theatre - http://www.lookingglasstheatrenyc.com/

Read my recent director to director interview - http://www.2amtheatre.com/2011/08/24/spotlight-meet-justine-lambert-director/

Follow us on Twitter! http://twitter.com/LookingGlassNYC
Find us on Facebook! http://www.facebook.com/LookingGlassTheatreNYC
Follow our blog! http://lookingglasstheatre.blogspot.com/

Worlds of Dragons and Snakes

Worlds of Dragons and Snakes!

On Saturday September 24 we held a reading of Dragonslayer, the one woman show that I co-authored with the amazing Judy Sheehan http://www.judysheehan.com/. It was so exciting and HELPFUL!  I can’t believe how much work these four talented actresses were able to do in only two rehearsals.  Huge thanks to Shannon Altner, Emily Daly, Arielle Hader, and Hannah Tamminen.

 After the reading there ensued such a lively and helpful discussion with cast, staff and audience that I never wanted it to end.  Perhaps most gratifying for me was the participation of members of our creative community - Robert Gonyo, the artistic director of Co-Op Theatre East, the company in residence at Looking Glass this season, and Looking Glass staff members Aliza Shane, Rose Ginsberg and Erica Nilson.  Knowing that I have a community to lean on for my creative needs is tremendously important to me! 

I learned so many things about our play.  I saw who this young woman we’ve created was, and the audience has made it clear that they want to know more; more about her inner workings and more about who she is.  Who will she be after this play if she survives?  Why does she need the things she needs?  I am excited to continue to explore this character that I’ve come to love and this world I sometimes wish we all lived in.

Check out some clips of my fantastic four working as one:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZWAdmhD66Jc

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QAdjlzvH50Y

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3mI7R58wNag

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D4rUrsKLKZQ

The following Monday night I had the privilege of sitting in on rehearsal for Calamity Jane Battles the Horrible Hoopsnakes (Written by by E. J. C. Calvert, directed by Jacquelyn Honeybourne and featuringfor the first time.  To my great joy, our preview in Time Out NY Kids came out the very next morning! http://tinyurl.com/3audvt7
Abraham Adams, Gianna Cioffi, Jessica Kelly, David Mangiamele, Monica O’Malley, Katie Proulx and Sarah Pullman)

I greatly enjoyed listening to director Jacquelyn Honeybourne giving notes when I first arrived.  Then after getting the lowdown on set, scenes and snake costumes, the real fun began.  I only saw four scenes run in their entirety, but within them was an encapsulated world - courageous Jane and her mom heading off to make a new life for themselves only to encounter the cowardly (adorable) inhabitants of a town harassed by Hoopsnakes.  

As they try to fit in well enough to be allowed to spend the night something happens…Mom is mom-napped!  But never fear; Calamity Jane is not panicked.  She’s ready, willing and eager to embark on a rescue mission.  She has quite a lot of convincing to do with the Townies however who are quite happy with their cowering ways. 

We also see the other side of the situation.  Mom is in the lair of the snakes.  They have an interesting discussion (yup, discussion with snakes) regarding what Mom has done wrong (in her life or in Hoopersville is not certain yet) and discover things about snakes that you might not guess just by looking at them. 

Whenever I am in a rehearsal room I inevitably learn something, sometimes about theatre (usually), sometimes about life.  Last night I learned something that can be applied to both: snakes are not only scary (they’re a bit scary, that’s a given) they’re also funny.  Slithery, slimy, limbless silliness. 

Justine Lambert
Artistic Director
Looking Glass Theatre - http://www.lookingglasstheatrenyc.com/

Read my recent director to director interview - http://www.2amtheatre.com/2011/08/24/spotlight-meet-justine-lambert-director/

Follow us on Twitter! http://twitter.com/LookingGlassNYC
Find us on Facebook! http://www.facebook.com/LookingGlassTheatreNYC
Follow our blog! http://lookingglasstheatre.blogspot.com/

Notes From Justine 10-4-11

The Season is Upon Us- Fall Season HIGHLIGHTS from Artistic Director Justine Lambert

The Season is Upon Us!

You might think that since our first full production is opening in October we’re having a calm start to the season, but Fall is already barreling full steam ahead.  We’ve been so busy, in fact, with getting our programs up and running that I have barely had time to look up from the computer and appreciate the artists I’m working with.  Here’s a quick rundown of what to look for this season!

Our Fall acting internship is well under way with 12 wonderfully talented performers working in the office, taking improvisation classes with our Fall acting instructor Naima Moffet-Warden and getting ready to perform in our Writer/Director Forum in December.  The rising stars are: Joey Lozada, Olivia Boyle, Samantha Cains, Cindy de la Cruz, Nathalie Frederick, Josiah Laubenstein, Norma Perez-Hernandez, Kiley Rothweiler, Nathaniel Ryan, Jodi Savitz, Chanel Thomas and Nick Zappetti.

Dragonslayer -- A free developmental reading this Saturday, September 24 at 7 p.m.  I co-wrote this with long-standing collaborator Judy Sheehan.  This is the first time I’ve had the honor of co-authoring a piece with this consummate professional.  One of the original co-creators of Tony-N-Tina’s Wedding, Judy has had eight shows (I hope I counted them all!) produced here at Looking Glass.  I’m so excited to go on this journey as we create an entire world and one amazing character together.

Calamity Jane Battles the Horrible Hoopsnakes -- Already cast with rehearsals underway, this family show is a piece of laughter and childhood.  Inspired by our own Jacquelyn Honeybourne’s love of the traditional American Tall Tales, E. J.C. Calvert has written an original story about the plucky heroine as a young girl faced with an unusual and hilarious situation involving scaredy snakes- wait, I meant scary snakes of course… or did I? ;-) Runs October 15 through November 20.

Co-Op Theatre East Residency-- We are so excited by our new partnership with this amazing company.  They will be an artist in residence for the entire season starting this Fall with bi-monthly workshops and Radio COTE, their 2nd annual radio play festival on November 15.

Staged Readings of New Works – The 5 shorts for $5 bucks series returns! Title TBA. On Wednesday, October 26, we’ll be holding the third of our exciting new short play reading series.  Based on the set of the current show (in this case it will be Calamity Jane, so who knows??!), so far the themes have been “Submerged” and “Naked.”  With an open call for artists to create “on theme,” we’ve already had amazing and inspired work come out of this series from veterans and rookies alike.  I am truly excited about the potential for growth and new projects this program is bringing us.

Big Benefit Party- Our Fall benefit party is set for Tuesday, November 8 from 6-10pm.  That’s right, Election Day!  So put it in your calendar; after you rock the vote, come rock with us.  Planning is well underway; our interns have begun soliciting (and getting!) exciting raffle prizes and musical guests are banging down the doors (well…they’re emailing) for the opportunity to perform.  It’s going to be a blast!

theater IN ASYLUM’s Frankenstein – This exciting Fall space grant recipient presents their re-imaging of Mary Shelley’s classic November 15-19.  I enjoyed reading this proposal so much, and I can’t wait to see this show happen in our space.

Winter 2011 Writer/Director Forum -- Of course, this half of our season will culminate with our semi-annual festival of new works in December.  We have a very full Forum with ten talented directors currently in the process of choosing their projects and getting geared up for the big meeting in early October.  We have a perfect mix of experienced artists and new blood this go round and I am not exaggerating when I say this one promises to be one of the best. With planning started earlier than ever and the ideas flowing so smoothly already, I can’t believe I have to wait until December to see these shows!

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Justine Lambert
Artistic Director
Looking Glass Theatre - www.lookingglasstheatrenyc.com

Read my recent director to director interview - http://www.2amtheatre.com/2011/08/24/spotlight-meet-justine-lambert-director/

Follow us on Twitter! http://twitter.com/LookingGlassNYC
Find us on Facebook! http://www.facebook.com/LookingGlassTheatreNYC
Follow our blog! http://lookingglasstheatre.blogspot.com/

Notes From Justine- Spring 2011 Writer/Director Forum, Week 4

Notes from Justine

The Queens of Comedy - Forum Rehearsal 6/6/11

Finally three shows that go together…sort of. Well, they don’t have all that much in common actually but they are all definitely comedy! They run the gamut of comic styles from full on realism to flat out absurdity!

GIN JOINT

Written by Gabrielle Fox, directed by Eva Gabrielle Schelbaum

Featuring Shea Davies & Gus Zucco

Of all the gin joints in all the towns, in all the world, she walks into his...in a wedding dress

This is a realistic comedy all about a silly situation. It may be shorter than your average sitcom (clocks in at about 12 minutes) but it certainly runs much deeper than one. The delightfully wacky setup involves a woman stuck in her sister’s wedding gown and the only person who can help her is a stranger. He’s an actor about to star in a production of Casablanca and that great film is a touch point helping to add the deeper notes to this charming ditty about possibilities that have passed us by while new ones open up.

WHO IS DAN SCHILLER?

Written by Bella Poynton, directed by Ariel Francoeur

Featuring Petra Denison, Jesse Kane-Hartnett, Dave Herigstad, Sarah Klein, Dan Lovley, Claire Nasuti, David O'Hara & Tom Simonetti

Please turn off all electric devices, make sure that your tray tables are in the upright and locked positions, and hold onto to your sanity...

This play is just absurd. In a good way! In fact one of my only notes was to go ahead and make it even more absurd! It’s about what the best absurd plays are all about: a sane person lost in an insane world. It begins on an airplane and may secretly be about the insanity we all feel when we are heading thousands of miles above ground in a tin can. The story actually follows a man’s descent into hell as he discovers first that his best friend is dead and is then accused of his murder. But plot isn’t really the point here. So what is? Sanity vs. Insanity? Style & Comedy? The way we all feel when faced with the shocking illogical nature of humanity? I’m reeling from "Weinergate" as I write! Life is absurd and I for one need a laugh!

SIGN ME

Written by Naima Moffet-Warden and Allison Ungar, directed by Naima Moffet-Warden

Featuring Richard McDonald, Margaret Odette, Ryan-Ashleigh Reid & Biniam Z. Tekola

When Adrian's business and love test her destiny, all she'll be screaming is... JUST GIVE ME A SIGN!

Not absurdist but not fully realistic either, Sign Me is about a young lady’s search for love or success or preferably both. It’s also about another kind of absurdity. The absurdity of trying to find a mate and doing it through the internet. But in this day and age, how else?? Being developed specifically for this Forum, the play is being written (and re-written) with the cast improvising to help develop it as we speak. The tight cast of four plays multiple characters of many astrological signs. They are experimenting with extreme and exciting physical choices/characteristics and the ride is funny, fun and sexy. If I wasn’t married I’d consider “sending out a sign” for love too.

Huge thanks go to the Assistant Directors/Stage Managers: Rebecca Cunningham & Estefania Fadul for making the evening go smoothly and listening patiently through my many absurd and/or realistic ramblings!

Week Four of the Spring 2011 Writer/Director Forum opens on June 23. I can’t wait! This evening of three has something for everyone and after all who doesn’t like comedy?

Justine Lambert
Founding Artistic Director

Notes From Justine- Spring 2011 Writer/Director Forum, Week 3

Notes from Justine
Forum Rehearsal 5/31/11 -More Relationships and So Much More

I ended last week talking about how Assistant Director/Stage Manager Karyn DeYoung saw both of the Week Two plays as relationship plays…behold this week starts off with every artist in the room referring to the first two of these wonderfully diverse offerings as “relationship plays!”

THE TRACKS ARE ELECTRIFIED
Written by Jane Miller, directed by Abigail Strange
Featuring Tyler Gattoni & Bethany McNamara

How long are you willing to wait?

This show is about a young couple on a subway platform. First there’s banter. They seem happy, cute, if quirky. Then Rosy wants to play a game to pass the time, Max is reluctant. Why, we wonder? Does he dislike games, silliness? Is he easily embarrassed? There doesn’t seem to be anyone else waiting for the train at this time of night. Why not indulge her? When he finally gives in to her wheedling it turns out the game is a little scary. It also turns out her motives weren’t so simple. She knows her boyfriend’s issues and has chosen this moment to bring them up. This seemingly happy relationship may be in peril just as the train finally begins to pull into the station…

BACK IN THE BOX
Written by Mary Flanagan, directed by Gretchen Ferris
Featuring Rob Getz, Elyssa Mersdorf & Emilio Paul Tirado

When you arrive at a fork in the road, take it. ~ Yogi Berra

Back In the Box starts with a couple and a complication. This play takes us farther into the workings of a dysfunctional relationship. Helen is clearly unhappy. We don’t always know why as we watch her journey towards escape. What is she escaping from? Is it spousal abuse or cruelty of some kind? Not precisely. The issues here are subtle. There is indeed something wrong- too much of a good thing, perhaps. Love turned to need, dependence turned to obsession. I find myself hoping Helen’s journey will be a smooth one after the blackout.

FIRE THIEF
Written and directed by Laura Hirschberg
Featuring Emily Daly, Arielle Hader, Timothy Mele & Kevin Russo.

Prometheus brings the spark of inspiration to man. Is it worth it? Come play with fire.

I am inspired and delighted to discover that our talented director Laura Hirschberg is also an impressive talent as a playwright! Fire Thief is full of complex ideas that unfold with wit and clarity.

What a difference. And yet I’d be lying if I didn’t acknowledge the importance of relationships here too. Of course in Fire Thief they are relationships between gods. The fire Prometheus steals is the fire of inspiration. He steals it to bestow it upon his own favorite creation: mankind. Of course in doing so he incurs the wrath of the Gods but more importantly be betrays two people (well, gods) he loves. His journey of self discovery includes allowing an unusual relationship to grow; the one between himself and his creation. If he can love us mere mortals for more than just our finer traits (such as theatre I’d venture) perhaps he can survive what’s coming to him.

Big thanks to Assistant Directors/Stage Managers Jessy Grossman and Sarah Outhwaite. They were a delight to work with. Full of insight and ideas, they were an integral part of our discussion throughout the evening.

Week Three of the Spring 2011 Writer/Director Forum opens on June 16. I’m excited to see this thought provoking, wit filled grouping of three with all the finishing touches!

Justine Lambert
Founding Artistic Director